Chapter 1
The New Kid
I reached the front hall panting. I bent over and clutched at my knees as I attempted to catch my breath. Why did my room have to be so far away from the front door?!
Probably because you never need to use it, a voice in the back of my mind reminded me.
"Shut it you," I growled under my breath at its mocking tone.
I noticed curiously as I exited the big black double-doors that the gate wasn't opened yet and the courtyard was peculiarly quiet. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one was behind me and then took to waling to either corner of the massive building and peering around behind each black corner. Whatever material the Black Order was constructed out of, it suited its name perfectly. The stone was black and almost glossy when you ran your fingers along it, a habit of mine was to trace the cracks between each block when I was being lectured in the courtyard by whoever decided to find qualm with my greeting the incoming Exorcists or sometimes even the way I greet them.
I can never do anything right is what it appears to be to me. I scowled at the thought and the fact that no one was hiding on either side of the building. I took to popping my hip and crossing my arms angrily as I awaited someone to deliver me my orders.
"What the heck is going on?" I mumbled more to myself than anything.
I was not, however, expecting a response. I spun on my heel transforming my body into a defensive stance in response to a loud honking sound right by my ear. I relaxed only slightly when I saw it was a Golem.
Why did those things have to be so quiet? One's going to kill me one day in my surprise!
I swatted at the obnoxious little communication device as it took to flying dangerously close to my face.
"What do you want me to do, Komui?" I spoke harshly in the direction of the Golem. I knitted my brow and snatched the thing out of the air and held it still in my hand, for its flitting about annoyed me and was beginning to make me possibly the worst hostess to ever take care of the greeting.
"So cold!" He called, his toddler-talk voice echoing through the Golem in a muffled screech. I cringed slightly as he reached a pitch that sounded very much like that of an out-of-tune fiddle. I should know, I've been taking lessons in such an instrument from one of the less obnoxious science team members.
I don't see why he uses that voice with me. One, I'm not a little kid, and, two, I'm not his sister— poor Lenalee is stuck in that role. Perhaps it's for the best though, she's extremely tolerant of all kinds of personalities, even his. I might have slaughtered him by now if he were my brother.
He is also a million times more affectionate towards her than he is to me. And that's really saying something.
But, despite his leisurely personality, I'm glad it's him. My anger is directed towards him but it's not like I'm ungrateful to him or anything. I do try to show him some respect. It's just… He's just so…
"Okay," his tone reverted to a calmer, more collected one, "so the Guardian has been studying this new Exorcist for a while now. And it's beginning to get a bit worrisome. I need you to check up on them and either help the kid pass or send him on his way. I leave the method of determining which is necessary to you."
"Yeah, I got it. But why can't you just send a Golem out there to check up on them?" I looked to the gate and narrowed my eyes in thought, determining how I was going to decipher friend from foe.
"Uhhh," he hesitated for a pregnant moment. "About that…"
My eyebrow raised in amusement as I looked back to the black Golem. "Yes?"
"The Guardian requests that we keep those things away from him." He sounded as if he were convincing himself of this.
"And why's that?" I asked, fully in amusement mode. That stupid Guardian has almost killed every single Exorcist there is. Why can't we have a Golem out there to watch him?
"He… didn't really explain."
"Komui, you're a terrible liar."
"I know." I heard his disappointment laced thickly through his voice. "He's eaten three of them now."
I resisted the urge to snort and walked over to the gate, sliding through the narrow exit in but a few seconds. An exit ONLY—however that's supposed to work.
As I stepped out I noticed a boy standing poised before the Guardian. I saw that the Guardian was beyond stressed out, his voice higher than usual and his speech quick and rambling. But the kid seemed to have no intention in using force or even arguing with the fool. I found this rather interesting, and decided to see how this would play out without my intervention.
So I leaned against the wall, amusement playing all over my features as I removed the obnoxious hijab of a hat and too-dark sunglasses. Komui insisted that I wear them in favor of my cloak's hood, for he thinks the hood could blow away from my head too easily. I balled up the hat and threw it and the sunglasses into the cloak's pockets. I pulled the hood over my head, hair always included, to the point that its shadow even hid my eyes.
As I continued to watch, I noticed the boy seemed to be getting irritated— I mean, who wouldn't? The Guardian was in full out panic mode and then his stone eyes set red. I stiffened, that's not supposed to happen unless he's about to attack the attempting intruder. I watched carefully as the Guardian went into serious defensive mode, even going as far as to secure the gate with his heavy bolts.
I stepped into the light, drawing to boy's attention. He was young, my age if even that, and quite handsome with his sharp eyes and long hair. It was ridiculously long for a boy and he even went as far as to pull it back into a short ponytail. Blue seemed to be his trademark color, as it was the tone of his hair and eyes.
I smirked already tasting the tease on my lips. "Need a haircut?"
"Need a new cloak?" He retorted. He had a point, it was pretty tattered and dirty.
"Touché." I lifted one side to inspect its threadbare and muddied ends. "I think it could do with a wash though."
He smirked. Then followed the awkward silence. I rolled my eyes and exaggeratedly gestured with my hands for him to continue.
"Care to introduce yourself and explain why you want to freak our Guardian out so much?"
"I simply—" He started but I cut him off, my tone something fierce.
"Name first." I couldn't find myself liking this boy even the smallest bit.
He glared at me at my interruption, but got no response out of me as I waited for his answer.
"Kanda, Yuu. Exorcist. General Tiedoll's apprentice." He snipped out tightly.
I smirked as I heard the underlying voice, and I began to understand what this 'Kanda' was.
"You know, your Innocence tells it all. You should sit down and have a nice chat with it." My tone was mocking but I saw his expression grow confused, as if here were taking me as seriously as I actually was being. I smirked, intrigued by his reaction, and decided to take it just a bit further, "Old man."
"What do you mean? I'm the same age as you!" He seemed to seriously believe it, but he also seemed to doubt it. Did he know or didn't he? I narrowed my eyes, reading his purely genuine reaction. At least I now knew he couldn't lie.
Which means he really is who he says he is.
"Whatever you say." I continued to jeer at him and, before he could further ask what I meant, I called out to him in challenge. "I've met Tiedoll before, he's cautious and makes sure you are really ready before he sends you anywhere alone. You say you're Tiedoll's apprentice?" My eyes flashed darkly. "Prove it."
I smirked at the look on his face. He was surprised, that much was obvious. I gave a motion of the hand that signaled, between Exorcists, the start of a battle, or to move in— another test to determine he is who he says he is. He raised an eyebrow before asking.
"Are you even an Exorcist?"
I felt myself being impressed in his knowledge and his skills with reading me, despite the cloak, in voice alone. "How about you learn firsthand what I am?"
His eyes lit with an excited fire at the prospect of a challenge, as I thought he might and man do. And he whipped out a Katana that appeared to be just a bit too long for his stature. Surely he'd grow into it. He swiped two fingers over the blade and it was unsheathed, the magical unsheathing proving that that was the form in which his Innocence took. I nodded in approval of the excited squeals that radiated from the innocence. It was ready, he was ready, and I was ready.
Let's do this.
He charged first, his first mistake, but also a lesson General Tiedoll teaches: Always learn your opponent's behavior patterns and attack accordingly. And I was definitely giving off some serious hints that he needed to attack first.
He was fast, almost inhumanly so, but I knew what he was doing so I wasn't too terribly worried. He had long since proven to be Tiedoll's student, and he teaches his students to hone their strengths to perfection and use said strengths to improve weaknesses. It was obvious that his weakness was that he was clumsy with such a disproportional blade to his own body, so he was going to simply swing and block anything I threw at him using mostly his speed moreso than his skill.
I sidestepped the blade and took three well-placed steps forward. I now had his back to me, the most vulnerable point of the human positions. I turned slightly and gave him a quick shove, just a tease considering what I could've done, he stumbled, and turned to face me, gaining his back balance quickly. Pretty impressive, I noted.
"Nice poker face," I called out. I saw a bit of a fluster in the way he adjusted his hands around his blade's handle, but he composed himself masterfully.
"Well, I can't very well see yours," He retorted sharply.
"I'm the least of your worries. This place has many, many more surprises and puzzles about it, more than you would believe."
He charged again. His patterns aren't very predictable, but I think I understand the reasoning for his attacks— a horizontal swipe was coming since all my footwork was lateral as well. It seems to me that this Kanda character is nothing shy of a cold-blooded attacker. I jumped up and posted both hands on his shoulders, the back of my head met the top of his and I pulled my legs over the both of us. It was almost a flip, but not quite as impressive. Considering how much taller he was as compare to I, I decided to play it safe in favor of tripping myself up and losing due to my own ego. I dug my fingers into his shoulders and used the force of my almost-flip and the leverage of being shorter to pull him over my head.
There was a soft thud on the "soft" dirt as he landed on his front and rolled onto his back ready to defend himself in a second's notice. I placed a foot on his chest to keep him still and plucked his katana from the air it had previously been flying through. Unfortunately, I caught it by the blade. Not that it would ever cut me. No, in fact, my only mistake in all of this is that I didn't allow it to cut me.
His eyes widened marginally in surprise as I handed it to him. He grasped the handle and rubbed his fingers along the blade in mild curiosity, but also sheathing it as a cover for his real action— to make sure it was still sharp.
"Why?" He rasped as he looked at me, his sharp eyes rather mild in mannerisms. So I humored him.
"It didn't want to," I quipped.
"Huh?"
"Nothing. I can't really explain it. Maybe later. But probably not, so just don't ask." I turned from staring at the gate to face him as he stood. "Well, you passed my test."
He stared at me, obviously confused. Well, not obviously— like I said, this kid has a heck of a poker face, his expressions can only be picked out from slight gestures that will probably fade as he gets older.
"Yes, I know you didn't win, but you showed obvious signs of Innocence, General Tiedoll's training, etc… So I believe you. And I have your back if anyone else gives you grief." Then I grumbled, "And I know someone will."
"Hey! Big Head!" I called to the Guardian. "Open up! He passes."
"And who are you to give me orders?"
"It's Liz. And how about you let me in now." I growled.
"Proof?" He questioned.
I rolled my eyes. No matter how many times I do the hostess work, this guy gives me grief every time. Seeing no other way and not a threat in sight, I reluctantly slid the hood off my head to where it rested on the back of my neck, revealing my distinctive features: be them my ghostly green hair, my glowingly bright green eyes, the green design that traces my cheekbones all the way down to my chin under my left eye, and the very unhappy look on my face.
"Yup. That's Liz." The Guardian said quickly and hurriedly chanted the code that opened the gate.
"You know, you're gonna get me in trouble one of these days." I mumbled, referring to the fact that I'm not supposed to remove the cloak in front of visitors, strangers, etc.
Kanda decided to finally to speak up. "You know, none of this is answering my question."
"Which question was that?" I turned from the Guardian to look at him harmlessly.
A look of surprise— no, more like awe, entered his expression and I heard him mutter something that was whispered so low that I managed to catch none of it.
"What was that?"
Hihs eyes rather wide and acting as he were in a daze, he responded immediately, almost impulsively with his word choice. "Your eyes, they look kind of like the color of innocence."
"Yeah. I know." I muttered, suddenly uncomfortable at being put on the spot. And, actually, he was dead on. My eyes are the color of innocence. Technically he didn't ask so, naturally, I don't see a need to explain. "So, what about a question?
"Yeah, are you an Exorcist?"
"Of sorts."
"Okay. Let me rephrase that. Are you an Accommodator of Innocence?"
He's getting closer. I was honestly impressed that he knew the difference. "Kinda."
"Oh come on. That was an easy one."
"For you, maybe. For me, it only scratches the surface."
"What do you mean," He asked.
"Now that I think about it, I guess I might as well call myself an Accommodator." I said this more so to myself as I tapped my chin in thought.
The gate slid open halfheartedly.
I pulled my hood over my head as fast as I could as soon as I saw a Golem. I was just fast enough to hope that the Golem glitched, as they commonly do, and make it seem like I was wearing the hood the whole time. I gave the Golem a thumbs up and we walked past the gate and into the front hall.
Once clear of the Golem's eyes for second, I slowed my pace to walk alongside the newbie and muttered a request of him. "Hey. Can you do me a favor?"
"Depends on what it is."
"Don't say anything about me removing my hood at the gate." I bit my lip hesitant to reveal anything quite yet to this boy. It's not that I didn't trust him, I just don't trust him. I trust him enough to believe that he's a part of the Order, but not enough to reveal anything about myself for fear of his character.
I sighed in defeat, I had to at least give a reason. "I'll get into serious trouble. It really won't end well. For either of us." I whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear.
"Sure. But I expect an explanation." His eyes remained forward. My eyes flickered to him, noticing the way he brilliantly played off the fact that we were having a conversation. I groaned silently.
"Isn't it good enough that I have your back? I mean you saw what I did back there— doesn't that count for anything?" I knew we he had to literally fight for it, but maybe…
I saw him smirk out of the corner of my eye. I could tell that this was the beginning of the "Kanda smirk" a rare, but deadly flower. There was no way I was getting out of this one.
"Fine." I whispered hostilely. Then I spoke a bit louder, so the Golem could hear. "If you would follow me." And I led him to the center of the headquarters to the floating platform elevator thingy. Hopefully this is what Komui had in mind for the newcomer; otherwise, I was going to look like a fool.
I soon realized that there was no one there for me to trade him off to.
"Hey, Komui. What's going on?" I spoke to the Golem following us.
"Oh. Well…" He stalled nervously.
"Well…?" I had a bad feeling.
"You're going."
I felt my heart stop for a second and my veins fill with a hot liquid. Not after what happened so long ago. No, I can't do that again. I won't do it again. The terror that had filled my body the first time returned. Those cold silhouettes of the men appeared in my mind, the judging stares of the Surpassors, the cold tentacles around my body so gentle yet so unsettling and, worst of all, the terror on such a noble creature's face. The one, out of us all, that has seen the ugliest of this world. How terrified she had seemed. The fear she had. The fear and terror she had of me.
"You okay? You look sick." Kanda asked cautiously with absolutely no tact in his approach.
"This is my chance. I finally get to ask what happened back then." I attempted to console myself, my eyes locked with the floor as I tried to comfort myself. It helped, but not enough to set me on ease. Or get me on the lift.
"Hevlaska requested this herself." Komui's voice rung in my ears. I felt my eyes widen and, all of a sudden, I felt my spirits lift marginally. I was still scared, but I was no longer paralyzed by the fear. Hevlaska wouldn't scream as soon as I got down there. She might even have the answers to some of my questions.
"Come on." Kanda said calmly. No mocking, no asking, no demanding, no ordering, no threats. He managed to do the thing that I was unable to do alone. He got me on the elevator platform.
I suddenly felt the barrier blocking the trust between me and him crumble at its top, still leaving a heavy base that wouldn't come crashing down any time soon, but enough that he could see a little over the top if he stood on his toes and peered over it.
I hesitantly followed him onto the platform and I moved over to the control panel. I pressed the key buttons and it jerked into motion. I felt a bit of the panic rise to my throat and my muscles tense and lock up. I swallowed the panic stubbornly and straightened myself out, standing a bit taller albeit still extremely stiff.
Those men aren't here. I'm not going to be forced to do anything. There are no shackles, no chains. I will not be screamed at for surprising Hevlaska, for she knew what was to come. I would remain the same after this meeting. No one would punish me. None. I'd be fine.
I took a deep breath. "Let's do this."
Kanda grunted in agreement. I knew he could tell I was uneasy, and I knew he would make me explain that as well later, somehow. And, who knows, maybe I can get something out of him in return.
I felt the lift start to slow and it eventually jerked to a stop. I almost fell. We were where we needed to be. I walked to the edge of the platform and across the bridge, gesturing for Kanda to do the same. I stopped about halfway across and turned to face the pit to my left. Kanda stood beside me. We remained solemn. The reason for this was the ghostly figure in front of us.
Hevlaska.
"Hello Elizabeth. It's been a while." She stated kindly.
"It has." I said dutifully.
"Is this the new Exorcist?" She turned her attention to Kanda.
"He is." I repeated in the same tone as earlier.
"Come here child." She spoke to Kanda as she held her tentacles out.
I shuddered under my hood.
She wrapped them around him securely. I saw the unease in his eyes.
"This is how it is supposed to work." I muttered to myself. I watched as she placed their foreheads together. A bright light shone from where they touched. She read out his high synchronized rate of 53% as the maximum.
"Nice." I said to him as Hevlaska placed him back on the platform, I cringed slightly at my cruel tone.
"Elizabeth." She said my name harshly. I shuddered. Apparently she doesn't like it when people change the subject.
"Yes?" I asked sheepishly.
"Remove your cloak and come here." Then she turned to Kanda. "We can trust you never to utter what you see here today, correct? Or must you leave?"
He nodded grimly.
I walked towards her, removing my cloak in the process and dropping it at my ankles. I felt my Innocence reacting from even being this near to her. It knew who she was and it knew what happened last time. I could hear its pleas for me to stay away. But it also knew that neither of us could refuse.
Hevlaska reached out a single tentacle, she was tentative to test the maximum again. Instead, we were just going to test if it was bearable for us to share the power evenly. Or so my Innocence informed. I reached out and touched it with my fingertips alone. The reaction was amazingly powerful. I felt my hair rise and the pressure behind my eyes grow as they glowed brighter. The Innocence within me was revolting against the seal. My skin tingled as I muttered the words "Innocence Activate." The markings under my eye peeled their way off my skin as if ripping needles from the flesh, attached one end to our connected hands and, like a briar, dug in deeply to the skin there. The rest of the seal stretched upwards magnificently expanding into the sky. Each line that it consisted of rippled and twitched as if they were alive, which they were. Not that anyone else should know.
They all stared in awe at the creature before them. I'll bet they thought that that was my Innocence. But I knew better. This was my seal, I was the Innocence. The Innocence is my heart. I could communicate with it and other pieces of Innocence because of this. No one knew but me, and I planned to keep it that way. The only reason I know this is because my Innocence explained it to me. I had two beings that live off of me. My innocence and the seal, both of which are incredibly powerful. Therefore, my body suffers for it as the bridge between the two. Innocence transforms my body when the seal is removed and the seal removes my energy, forcing me to nourish my body more fervently.
My bones trembled and twitched, my hair continued to rise erecting goosebumps along my skin.
"Synchronization rate: Unreadable." Hevlaska read, the strain painfully evident in her voice. It was too much for her, the Keeper of Innocence. But we remained in contact, fearing we would never get the chance again to get any further. It might possibly kill me in the next year. The next month. The next week. We both wanted this. We both wanted answers to this phenomenon before either of us suffered something agonizing. I felt my body hitting the metallic stage. My skin started to turn gray, my hair black and my body grew hard and heavy, it was now reinforced. My arms melded and flattened turning into blades. My hair separated itself into twenty sections and formed arrowheads on the ends, as they were of their own devices now, as their own weapons. I had a small grasp on reality and barely caught myself before I slipped. But my shifting continued.
"Let's see your true completed transformation." Hevlaska muttered to me. She was helping bear the power and we both were in pain. Could we really handle it?
"Full Transformation." I heard myself mutter.
That bastard. My innocence took hold of my will, of my lips, and made me release its full power. It's going to kill us! I struggled to keep it down. I didn't want to go this far so soon. I felt my body's extra weight lift and suddenly I was weightless and floating mere centimeters off of the ground. I felt a snap. An excruciatingly painful snap. I felt a snap along my spine and my sanity. I looked at the Surpassors and saw that they had also heard the snap. I knew that my now gray skin was fading to a clear. I glanced at my arm and saw that I was behind schedule. My skin, everything about me was clear, like glass. But I could still be seen. I was crystallized. My Innocence being to only thing that was not transparent. It floated inside my chest, its little mechanisms surrounded by the green glow. I felt the pressure building up from being in this form. Hevlaska must be losing consciousness. I was losing my support. I needed to close down now.
"Innocence…" I ground out, feeling it letting loose farther and resisting my actual will. It was trying to reject me now and I had seen that enough to know that I couldn't allow it to take over. That's enough! "Deactivate!"
I felt a whoosh as the Seal helped complete my command by it placing itself under my left eye in its respectful place. I felt the tension on my body snap and disappear. The Innocence complained loudly, screaming and screeching as its power was devoured by the Seal. My body reverted back to its original state. It's normal, fleshy state. All of a sudden I felt the lack of energy and I slumped on the railing, soon falling to my hands and knees and dry-heaving as my body recovered from the shock.
I took a few more moments to recover from my choking on my empty stomach before speaking. "So, get what you need?" I asked Hevlaska, who was panting heavily and holding herself up on her tentacles.
"I don't know. I got a great amount of information but I don't understand most of it."
"Well, I can tell you one thing. I am not doing that again for a long time." I chuckled humorlessly. "And I'm guessing you agree with me?"
"Yes," she whispered as she continued to gather her bearings.
I turned to Kanda and gave him a weak smile as I picked up myself and then my cloak. "I'm starving. Let's go get some food."
I walked past him. He was staring at me blankly.
"You know," He began, a bit of amusement pasted in his voice and on his face, "I'm beginning to look forward to that explanation."
I rolled my eyes and replied sarcastically.
"Yeah? Well, me too."
