The train rattled loudly as it forced it self forward, launching into motion. The bags where pilled up high on the other side of the seat and they swayed threateningly. Eas put her hand lightly on the top of the luggage to ensure it wouldn't topple over.
"So after this train ride we'll be there, right? Mack complained, his head resting on the far window of their little department. He was known for being short tempered, and they had been traveling for a while. "Yeah." Tyki assured him, taking a long drag on his cigarette, and then blowing the fumes out the window. "You're gonna die from smoking so much." Mack grunted. Tyki just smiled. His face was composed, but through the years, Eas was able to notice a small twinkle from behind his glasses, as if he knew something funny that no one else did. A short, raspy sound echoed through the cabin suddenly, as Eas tried to suppress the cough that was pressing to get out. "There gonna be a hotel there?" Will asked, nodding in Eas's direction. "Yeah, there's one near the mine. We'll drop her off there." Through the mask, Eas frowned disapprovingly. Though she was small, she proved helpful throughout the last places they had worked at, either helping in the kitchen at the local farms or caring after the kids of the boss's. When they where in-between jobs, she had even learned the skill of pick-pocketing. She had sharpened that skill to perfection, even having techniques for different types of people. Though with this job, she knew she'd be no help at all. Mining. Her small figure was still waiting for a growth spurt, and the fact she was a girl, though this was hardly known due to her attire and company, she would have a hard time getting a job. The train swayed as it passed a bend and Eas began to drift into a day dream. Not long after this had begun, however, she was interrupted by the department's door opening. A large man with black hair and white bangs stepped inside the cabin. Eas's eyes widened as the light from the windows hit his face. It reminded her greatly of a vampire. He looked around as she slid farther into her seat, afraid of the new comer. She had read about vampires, and she really didn't want to become his next meal. To her dismay, he caught sight of the gaping Tyki, slightly stunned by his appearance. The large "man" Opened his mouth, his strong jaw bearing sharp gleaming teeth, and began;
"OH!" He exclaimed, jumping back. "I'm sorry, is this a private freight? I didn't mean to intrude!" A single tear welled up in the terrified vampire's eye. Eas nearly burst into laughter, holding herself at the seams and sinking further into the seat as she tried to keep her breathing even. That was certainly NOT what she was expecting. Tyki returned to himself quickly, lighting another smoke and throwing the blackened bud out the window.
"Now that you mention it, you where interrupting." He started. Tears began welling up in the vampire's eyes and Eas had to cover her mask to keep the laughter from escaping.
"But I have a way for you to make it up to us." Tyki assured him, smiling brightly. This was his sucker face. He was very good at wringing people into his trap. The vampire nodded furiously, the tears spilling over his dark eyes. Tyki smiled approvingly.
"How' bout we play a game of poker?" He dug into his pocket and came back with a deck of black and white checkerd cards.
"I don't know how to play." The vampire admitted, sadly. He seamed to be a roller coaster of moods, mostly depression.
"Don't worry, I'll teach you!" Tyki returned his depressed glance with a reassuring smile.
The train blew black clouds of steam through its pipe and down the long narrow compartments. Eas's eyes watched it as it fluttered and billowed in the wind like a black butterfly. It had been a while since Tyki had introduced poker to the vampire, and now he was left cloth less, except for his red and yellow polka dotted underwear. Eas had long since lost interest in the petty game. This was nothing but a bunch of cheaters sharpening their techniques on a newbie. Their was nothing interesting about it, that was, until the door yet again screeched open. There, standing in the passageway was two teenage-looking boys, one with snow white hair and a red pentagon of his face, and the other with spiky long red hair and an eye patch. They looked down at the vampire with surprised eyes. "KROWLEY?" They exclaimed, astonished at his attire. The vampire, now known as Krowley wiped some of the tears and snot away from his face and onto his shivering, bear arm.
"Sorry fellas, young ones aren't aloud to enter this place right now." Tyki smiled up at them. Mack looked over at Krowley sternly,
"Oi, Oi. Don't scamper off!" "You accepted this battle, if you're a man, you'll fight to the very end." Tyki added, waving his finger. Suddenly a black coat with many glittering ornaments hung in front of Tyki's face.
"All of the ornaments on this coat are made of silver. How about I play against you with this, and all of Crowley's cloths as my bet." The white boy challenged. The red-heads face lit up in surprise.
"Oi, Allen, what are you saying?" But Tyki had already accepted the bet. He chuckled darkly as he agreed. "Alright."
The game was incredible. They only expected a naive kid, but what they got was a pro. With every great hand the gang put down, Allen would match it. It wasn't long before the situation was completely turned around. Eas stared in astonishment along with the other two of his group as he announced yet another royal straight flush. The three guys cried out in exasperation. They called a short meeting as they discussed the kid's supernatural ability's.
"What the hells going on? He should have been getting crappy cards!" Mack whispered ferociously. "Were being suckered?" Tyki assisted. Even will was on edge. "He's a master hand!" They concluded. Allen's face showed nothing but satisfaction, as if he had been teaching a lesson to some naughty children.
"Damnit! One more round!" The three bellowed, obviously missing how doomed they were. Sure enough, not even a minute later, Allen announced "Call." And they where done, having nothing left to surrender but their boxers in which the new comer had spared them.
They even bet my teddy. Eas thought distastefully as she stared at the beat up teddy bear strapped to one of the bags. I'll kill those guys later for that!
The announcer came over the intercom, clearing his throat loudly to get the passengers attention, and then reading the next stop on the list. They where reaching their destination.
Beaten, Tyki and the others bowed out and headed into the passage way to catch the already busy doorway of people waiting for the station. As the trains whistle blew, and they where finally off the plat form and back into the freezing cold, Allen stuck his head out the window. He pulled out all the baggage the Guys had lost and offered it to them. "Here, it's enough that I got my friends things back, it'll be painful being nude this time of year, right?" He grinned down on them.
"Boy," Tyki smiled half-heartedly, "We won't fall so low as to accept pity when we lose." The statement was false as their hands where gripping onto their possessions dearly. Eas sighed, distastefully. After they had dressed, Tyki sighed, happy for the warmth of his clothes again.
"Man, you saved us!" He continued, "In truth, were going to start work today in an ore mind nearby." "Where did you come from?" Allen asked. "Everywhere!" Tyki sang. "Were a wandering band of light-fingered orphans!" This was true. Each of them met up at their own times, wandering around, homeless and down on their luck. Eas looked up at Allen thankfully. He had really saved the idiots butts and she wanted a way to show her thanks. She dug into her pocket and searched around for something to give him. The only thing she could find, however, was the silver button in which Tyki had given her when he came back from one of her missions. It was one of her most precious possessions, not that she had many, anyways. But their was nothing else in her pocket, so she pulled it out, the button round and friendly in her hand, and held it out to the boy. He looked at her questioningly, confused by the gesture.
"Our thanks." She reassured him in her small voice.
"Eas! That things you're treasure!" Tyki insisted. "Wait, Wait, I'll give something else as thanks." He began searching through his large pockets for something to give him.
"It's ok, you don't have to." The boy waved as the train lurched into motion. Tyki's eyes lit up as he found something. He chucked it at Allen, with a satisfied "There."
Allen caught it and looked at the deck that was in his hands. It was the same deck they had played with on the train.
"I hope things are cool between us then." Tyki called out to him as a final gesture. Allen smiled back as the train passed through a tunnel.
Eas looked at the button in her hand as a large hand patted her on the head.
"Keep a tight hold on that thing, Eas. I went through a lot of trouble to get that important silver for you." Yes, important indeed. Since Eas had joined the group, she had been after one person. This person was what she thought as her father's killer. An old man with an odd uniform. She had been searching for him ever since he took the last of her family away.
Eas's mind drifted back to reality when she heard a loud bringing noise. It was a phone nearby. Tyki reached it first, and as multiple times before, it was a new one of his mysterious jobs. Out of all the jobs they had done, Tyki's was the most secret, not one of them but Tyki knew what it was, and as soon as he got the call, he was gone, only to show up again some time later, when they had continued on their journey. No one even had a clue what it could be, except Eas. Since she had joined the group, she always kept a look out for the murderer. She wasn't very interested in much, so when she took so much devotion into finding him, the group took notice. Finally, after one of his last trips, he came back with a silver button on a thin string of leather.
Keep this. He had said, giving the shiny button to her. I know you were looking to do it yourself, but I couldn't have you sully your hands with scum. Eas had read the inscription on the inside of the button and instantly understood what he was saying. He had killed her father's murderer and was giving her his button as proof.
Tyki was leaving; he was already spreading the bad news to the guys, Mack blowing up over it. Eas looked over to Tyki, a distant expression on her face.
"Tyki…Bring back more silver, ok?" He smiled his secret smile as they turned in the direction of the hotel, leaving him be.
The hotel wasn't anything special, a small inn with two stories. The room they checked into had two beds, which was fine, since Tyki barely joined them in the hotels, and she was still considered a kid. They laid their stuff down on the beds as they started to unpack. They expected to be there for a while. A mining job wasn't one to just work at for a couple of days and leave, besides, Tyki was on another job, and it was always tiring trying to connect up with him again. Eas rested on the bed while Mack and Will went down to win some food. Her cough acted up again and she curled up into a ball to hold her rattling chest in-tact. It had been a while since it had acted up, all the moving around had brought it back. After she was settled again, she took out her stuffed bear, all tattered and torn. She held it to her as she curl up in the bed. The coughing came again, slowly, and wasn't as rattling, but it was still annoying. She sighed, feeling the effects of the fit.
Man, I wish there was a way to get the medicine I need without being a burden. That stuff was so expensive; it nearly put aunt aggie into bankruptcy.
As she squeezed her teddy, it began to glow, engulfing itself completely in a strange aura. Eas jumped back, surprised. The Teddy, which had been dropped to the floor, began moving. First the head, then the mangled arms, and finally the stuffed legs, until it was no longer sprawled as it should have been, but standing up, looking at Eas. She let out a gasp, shrinking farther away from it. The bear began climbing the blankets, as if it where a miniature version of the real thing. As it struggled onto the top of the bed, it dusted itself off, and held out its paw.
"Come." A voice sounded, coming from the bears unopened mouth. Eas stared in shock.
"E, eh?" She was able to voice, confused and slightly curious.
"Come, there isn't much time. We must destroy the Akuma." He continued.
"Distroy what? Demons?" Eas repeated.
"Yes."
She couldn't help it, it was just too strange. An uncontrollable laughter erupted from her mouth. She thought she had finally snapped, or at least the coughing had made her delusional.
"What's wrong with you? We need to get going!" The bear tugged on Eas's wrist. She sat up, wiping a tear from her eye.
"You, you are not real, only a figment of my imagination. Teddy, you are a stuffed animal. I am not going to go running around with my imagination pretending to be a magic girl trying to defeat demons with my teddy bear and spotted pyjamas!"
"I am not your imagination." The bears beaded eyes furrowed with animation.
"Sure your not." Eas turned around and dangled her feet from the bed, looking at the wall.
"Soon enough, you'll disappear."
Teddy's patience snapped. "Damn girl! See if this feels like your imagination!" He sent a flying kick towards her head, smashing her into the wall. She slid off like an American cartoon, her face smushed into the wall. Teddy stood on the edge of her bed, his arms folded and eyes closed in approval. "See? How did that feel, you disobedient brat?"
Eas sat up, rubbing her face.
"You hit me." Teddy nodded. "You hit me, you stupid, crap piece of cloth! I'm going to pull out all of you're stuffing except for that massive head of yours! Try hitting me after that! Try getting up after that!" She took both sides of his face and started pulling at the fabric, hard. Teddy screamed in pain.
"Ow! Ow! Hey! Stop that! OWEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"
"Sooooooo, you say, this Earl guy is really bad?" Eas was sitting on the bed, propped up against the head rest. Teddy was on the arm chair on the other side of the room, continuously rubbing at his stretched face.
"Yes. He creates the akuma from grieving people."
"Ok, then, and what does that have to do with me?" A yoyo smacked the middle of her face. "What the hell did you do that for?" She asked, looking at the yoyo, bewildered. "And where'd you get this from?"
Teddy sat back down after his attack. "I have a secret compartment in my stomach, but that's not the point here! We've been over this before! You are an exorcist; you were created to defeat the Earl."
"Nooo, I was created to be a normal person with a normal life." Eas retorted bull-headedly. Teddy snorted.
"This sort of life style isn't normal. Besides, the seekers will find you eventually, so you might as well go now!"
Eas shook her head. "I like where I am now. I am not leaving."
Teddy sighed in frustration. This had been going on for a while. "If you don't go, Akuma will eventually find you, and kill you. You have no choice, if you want to save all the humans you hold dear, you must go."
"I have no one." Eas huffed. "What about those guys getting you're supper?" Teddy accused. "I'm only with them for convenience."
"Don't you have anybody in which you would want to protect?" Teddy huffed disappointedly. "None." Eas knew that was a lie. Her head was filled with images of her aunt and the people she had met between jobs, and Mack, and Will, and especially Tyki. It was plain on her face that she was lying and Teddy took this to his advantage.
"Everyone will DIE if you don't become an exorcist. All those people you're thinking of, they will all be ash, sooner or later, if it's the Earl, it's most likely sooner."
Eas hid her eyes. "Damn, I really hate you, teddy."
"Call me Edmund." He corrected her. She looked up.
"Edmund, why?"
"Because that's my name!" He answered hastily.
"You're name is teddy." Eas corrected him. "I named you that."
"But teddy's so cute! Ed is manlier!" Teddy said, flexing his non-existent muscles.
"That's so lame." Eas concluded and Teddy sighed distastefully.
"Regardless, you haven't answered my question. Will you go with me?"
"Oh, now you're asking?" Eas snorted a sneer across her face.
"Well, I wanted to give you a choice." Teddies face got a shade bit darker, which made Eas smile.
"Alright. If it gives my friends a chance to live a long and healthy life, I will try it out."
Teddy shook his head.
"Once you're in, you can never go back. You must stay an exorcist until you, or the Earl is dead, preferably the Earl. Either that, or I am destroyed, which would result in you being useless to the order."
"Wow, the order sounds like a great place." Eas smiled sarcastically.
"Their just trying to win this war." Teddy concluded.
"Sarra!" Mizuki called down the hall. The short female exorcist scuttled to her side with an anxious expression on her face. Mizuki smile at her look and decided to hold her in suspense for just a few more seconds. Sarra's eyes nearly crossed in anticipation. "Well? Tell me already! Are they here, or not! Are they hurt? What going on?" She exploded, her patience tired. Mizuki laughed. "Their on their way here right now! And they have a new-comer!" Sarra sighed. "You know what that means! Komui's going to go crazy!" She nodded in agreement. "But Allen's coming home too!" She nudged Sarra with her elbow and her face lit up red. "I, I really, umm, I don't, like him! I, I just want to, to make sure he's safe, that's, that's all." Sarra stuttered, her face growing darker, "Don't worry; your love obsession is safe with me!" Mizuki ducked as Sarra tried to punch her in the head. "I am not obsessed with Allen! I just, I feel we have a kin-ship because we are both short!" Mizuki snorted. "Sure, whatever you say!" Sarra's face smoothed as she thought of a come-back. "What about you and Lavi, huh? I hear he's coming back with them! It's been a while since you've seen him, hasn't it?" Mizuki's face was now the one to go darker, though she quickly hid it by retorting, "Lavi is like a toy to me! He's someone I can tease and pick on when I'm bored. He's nothing more than a boredom saver to me!" Sarra rolled her eyes, "Sure." They made their way to the entrance to await their friends return.
Seraphina was already waiting in the lab along with all the scientists and Lenalee. They were watching a screen that showed the entrance and the people in front of it. Sarra and Mizuki joined them before heading to the entrance themselves. Seraphina was chuckling at the new-comers looks; apparently he had a great resemblance to a vampire, which the other two noticed as well. Komui was already at the gate. From the sound of the sirens, it appeared that the new-comer was suspicious. Lenalee, however, concluded that he could not possibly be an Akuma.
On the screen, Komui was summoning something. Out of no-where a massive robot appeared beside Komui. Everyone groaned in dismay as they recognized the monster. "Another komurin? Not again!" Lenalee was already heading to the door to restrain her brother and his crazy invention as he was ordering it to destroy the boys. Soon Lenalee appeared on the screen, after a massive chase scene encouraged by komurin, who proceeded into adding Lavi as an ingredient in a giant omelette, and carrying on to the others, Lenalee finally got to the robot before it could change anyone else into a great helping of food, by smashing Komui with her foot, and promptly lodging komurin into the sky with her innocence, destroying yet another of Komui's creations.
Seraphina and the others were held back as the guys led by Lenalee where escorted to Komui's work place, where Krowley's innocence received a "check up", and since it happened to be his teeth, which creeped nearly everyone out; it was especially painful for him. After that, they were hustled to Hevalaska, who examined the struggling Krowley. It was a while before the others where even able to meet up with he ones who had returned. It wasn't until they where crowded in the cafeteria to help set up for Krowley's party that they where able to really talk. Sarra rushed over to Allen, stopping herself only a few feet away from him, afraid to be any closer, but to anxious to be any further away. "Hey Allen! Welcome home!" She rewarded him, blushing slightly. "Hey Sarra, it's good to be back!" He smiled at her as he turned to set up a table with an arm load of cups. Sarra helped him as she pushed for information on their adventure.
Mizuki met up with Lavi and greeted him with a hard hit on the head. "OW! What!" He demanded, turning around to meet Mizuki's stern glare. "Not one call! I didn't receive even one call from you! I had to rely on Komui to relay information on you! You know how indecisive Komui is! You where gone longer this time, too. What where you searching for?" It took Lavi a few seconds to process everything. "Mizuki?" He finally sputtered. "Yes, idiot. It seems I've forgotten how slow you are." Lavi laughed. "I'm not slow; I was just dazzled by your beauty!" His cheap grin earned a hard smack in the face. Regardless of his joke, Mizuki's face still showed a light blush. "But seriously, it has been a while." Lavi laughed, rubbing his cheek. "Yeah. And whose fault was that?" "We had some stuff to look up, and then we got caught up with Allen and them" Mizuki frowned. "Bad excuse." They proceeded to one of the set tables to discuss his absence and steal some rice balls.
Seraphina kept herself busy with handing out plates to each table. Kanda had left for a mission so she was in a bad mood. Though not having had a mission for a while had set her tone lighter, she was still on edge with the mission he had been sent on. It could be long.
Soon everyone was hushed as Krowley drew nearer to the cafeteria. Allen and Lavi left their positions to stand up front with Lenalee. When Krowley entered the large room, everyone welcomed him home. It was always fun to hold these gatherings, and it was great to have an addition to the much growing family.
"Face it Teddy! Were lost!" Eas groaned as they trudged through a thick fog. "Were not lost." He retorted, though his face was crinkled up in confusion. "The cliff is near here. We just have to pass through a town, then a forest, and climb that damn cliff, and were there!" "Then where's the town?" Eas asked, looking around vigorously. They had been walking for a few days with no money and they were both cranky. "You brought me out here to die! How do I know you're not the Noah!" "I'm a talking stuffed bear!" Teddy bellowed, hurt. "Then an Akuma? They could look like you!" "Look! I'm you're innocence and that's that!" Teddy growled. Eas huffed.
"So, umm, can all innocence speak?" she changed the subject slightly. "I don't think so." Teddy continued; "I think maybe that's you're power, I'm not sure, we'll find out when we get to the order." Eas shivered. "Great. I have the creepiest power ever. I can make inatomate objects come to life." She thought of a room full of dolls, staring at her while she slept. Another shiver ran down her spine. "Scary." The fog lifted slightly and they where able to catch sight of protruding figures, the town. "We're off to see the super scary exorcist wizard…" Eas sung as they made their way out of the fog, and into the bustling crowd of the town.