Raychaell: Thanks everyone for all your lovely reviews and story alerts! I was beginning to think no one loved me…. *Sob*
Roxy: Will you shut your whining already?
Raychaell: Who taught you that language?
Roxy: *shrugs* When you are a traveller and lead a life in the streets, you tend to pick up a lot of words not fit for public use. I was being considerate just now, you know?
Raychaell: Whatever. I do not own D. Gray Man. Only my OCs.
"GENERAL CROSS HAD A SECOND APPRENTICE?!" Everyone who heard Roxy yelled in unison. Roxy and Allen shrugged and gave way to similar grins in reply.
Roxy was the first to speak. "It's true," She assured the mixed group of scientists and Exorcists alike, "I met that stupid General when I was 13, and ever since then I've been training under him with Allen here, and when I was 18, that idiot finally sent us off to the Black Order."
Lavi then had a question. "I've noticed that you don't exactly address General Cross as Master like Allen does. Instead, you either call him General or insult him. Why do you do that?" Lavi asked in curiosity.
Allen snickered then and opened his mouth to speak. "That's because she's Master Cross' dau – " Allen was cut off by a back kick from Roxy to his stomach, leaving him winded and unable to speak. He glared at Roxy, who merely gave him a glare rivaling his.
She growled a reply. "You promised not to tell anyone about it, so I would like you to keep your promise unless you want your manhood to suddenly disappear." Every guy in the group immediately sweat dropped at the threat. Lavi, however, mused to himself, since he had noticed what Allen had been about to say. What had Allen wanted to say before Roxy cut him off, Lavi mused to himself even as he stared at Roxy.
Timothy asked, "So if you are the ghost, then you must have been the one asking where your brother is, right?" Roxy smiled down at the eager boy and ruffled his hair, before replying.
"Aye, and before you ask, Allen here is my god brother and best friend of all time. We trained under Master Cross as kids and eventually became siblings when I was fifteen." Roxy explained, giving Allen a wicked grin. She was about to say more, but gave way to a sudden yawn.
"Sorry… But it seems I need to sleep. Anyone know a place where I can crash?" Roxy said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.
Lenalee was quick to reply. "I can share my room with you. Tomorrow morning I can find you a room to sleep in." Roxy smiled gratefully, and gave Allen a quick hug before following Lenalee, leaving the guys to themselves.
Lavi was quick to question Allen after the girls left. "Hey Allen, how did you know such a hottie like Roxy?"
Allen looked surprised at the question, but replied, "Roxy is beautiful, that I can agree on. But tell that to her face and she'll get mad and say that beauty is only skin deep and that it's what underneath that really counts. And I met her when I was just twelve and just started successfully cheating at poker. It's really hilarious how we first met, but I am really exhausted now, so can I please sleep first and talk tomorrow?" Allen pleaded at the end before he headed back to his room.
Link, who had been among the first to recover from the effects of meeting Roxy for the first time, was quick to follow Allen as the adrenaline from before left them all, making everyone realize how tired they were. After several good byes were said, everyone headed to their respective rooms for some rest.
"Roxy wake up. Roxy!"
There was a voice speaking into Roxy's ear, asking her to wake up, but she was so tired. She wished she could sleep more. Then another voice spoke above her. "Lenalee, let me try."
Then she heard the same voice again, this time in her ear, whispering, "Roxanne Wilder Cross, if you do not wake up now, I'm telling everyone that you're Master's daughter." Roxy was immediately awake and alert, glaring at the smug Allen who was seated beside her on the ground, a Cheshire grin on his face while Lenalee looked bemused from the sidelines.
Now that Roxy was fully awake, she scanned her surroundings, which consisted of (A/N: 1stly, I don't know how Lenalee's room looks like, so I'm guessing here.) stone gray walls, and a simple bed on one side of the room where Lenalee had slept in. The younger girl had been quick to offer her own bed to Roxy, but Roxy had declined, choosing to sleep on the cold stone floor instead since Roxy was used to it. Roxy had fallen asleep instantly then, grateful for her ability to sleep instantly.
"Hey Roxy, breakfast time." This had an immediate effect on Roxy and she was up and ready, still wearing a simple shirt and black pants, along with a pair of scuffed boots that showed signs of long use. Allen and Lenalee began chatting to her, talking about the Order and such as they led the way to the cafeteria. Roxy listened with interest to the conversation. While she may have learned about the Order through her letters with Allen, it was always wonderful to talk to her god brother face to face. And speaking of Allen, she had noted the lingering smiles of his on Lenalee, how he seemed much happier in her presence and blushed lightly whenever Lenalee praised Allen and spoke of his successes out in the battlefield.
I think they're in love, Roxy mused to herself. But from the look of things, they didn't know that they were in love with each other. Roxy sighed and shook her head with a slight smile. She was not here to play matchmaker, but if there was time, she would do so.
At last, they reached the cafeteria, where Allen was quick to introduce her to the head chef Jerry before he recited a list of what he wanted for breakfast. As always, the white head ended his long recitation with a request for thirty mitarashi dango. Roxy rolled her eyes at this, and draped an arm over Allen's shoulder. "Hey Allen, it seems your love for mitarashi dango will never change, right?" Roxy joked.
The teenager mock glared at his best friend and god sister. "That's because it tastes great, Roxy! You should try it yourself." Allen protested. Roxy rolled her eyes, and stepped forwards. Jerry the chef was quick to start up a conversation with her.
"Hello there, little beauty! You must be Roxy, and I'm Jerry the head chef! What would you like?" Jerry asked with his usual grin.
Roxy smiled and started a recitation. "Let's see, thirty mitarashi dango since Allen wants me to try it, twenty sets of bacon and scrambled eggs…" Roxy recited a long list of her favorite foods, making Jerry's eyebrows rise in surprise, Lenalee's eyes widen, and Allen snicker at the others' surprise.
"Roxy's scythe is a parasitic type Innocence. It's kept inside her so we can't see it till she summons it into her hand," Allen explained. Roxy ignored them and just collected her food, waiting for Lenalee to finish and collect her breakfast order before following them to a table where Lavi, Link and Timothy were waiting. Lavi and Timothy looked excited at the sight of Roxy while Link looked grumpily at Allen.
"Where were you, Walker? I woke up this morning to find your bed empty and your falcon glaring at me, " Link snapped, holding up an equally grumpy looking Talon who snapped his beak at Link before flapping over to a delighted Roxy.
"I missed you SO much, Talon! You look good aren't you?" Roxy crooned to the falcon that had landed on Roxy's shoulder and started preening himself, oblivious to his mistress' crooning. Lavi couldn't help but laugh aloud at the scene, earning him a glare from Roxy as Allen tried to explain to Link that he had merely gone to wake Roxy up.
Without further ado, Roxy dug into her food promptly with a speed equaling Allen's. "So Roxy, I notice that you're wearing guns as well. Why do you carry guns even though you have your scythe to protect you?" Lavi asked. The blonde haired girl managed to pause in her eating to answer.
"That's because my guns are equipment type Innocence. Therefore, I own both equip AND parasitic type Innocence." Roxy said off handedly, oblivious to the jaw dropping from Lenalee, Timothy, Link and Lavi. Allen merely resumed eating since he had always known about Roxy owning two types of Innocence.
"Then you're just like General Cross! Is that why you are his apprentice as well?" Link questioned.
"Something like that," Roxy mumbled around her mouthful of eggs before she managed to swallow and start chugging down a glass of water.
Lavi fixed his eye on Roxy before musing aloud, "He took you in as his pupil because you're his daughter, right?" At this, Allen and Roxy choked on their food at the same time, Roxy spraying out her mouthful of water straight into Link's face since he had been unfortunate enough to sit opposite her, and Allen just choked on his food, leading Lenalee to pat his back in concern, while the rest started in shock at Lavi's words.
"WHAT?!" Allen and Roxy chorused at the same time when they had managed to breathe in enough air to speak, exchanging looks of shock.
"Did the idiot white head tell you?" Roxy demanded, glaring at Allen while hastily offering a handkerchief to Link in apology. Timothy and Lavi were busy laughing away at Link's sopping wet appearance as Allen fended off her glare with his hands raised in surrender, the look on his face clearly saying that he had not said anything.
Lavi brought Roxy's attention back to himself. "No one told me, I just guessed. I mean, firstly, your facial features are similar to General Cross, and last night, Allen nearly let it slip that you were the General's daughter, therefore the casual way you addressed General Cross." Lavi explained, making Roxy sigh ruefully.
Roxy spoke. "Guess the cat's out of the bag. Yup, I'm the daughter of General Cross Marian, who is an idiot and an womanizer. That guy abandoned my mom when she was four months pregnant with me, leaving my mother to raise me up alone as a single mother. Seeing as to how costly and stressful it was to raise me, my mom turned to prostitution to earn quick money. Day after day, I saw my mom bring home different men and hide me away so that I won't be noticed."
"When I was five, she started taking drugs to relive stress. It was harsh for me, living in that place, since drugs always put her in an abusive mood, leading me to hide whenever she came home. I was just eight when I finally ran away from home and started living on the streets, desperately trying to scrape a living by my own and also scavenge some food to eat. I was around nine or ten when I found my scythe, the parasitic type Innocence that I named Nightmare."
"I wasn't really looking for it then. I mean, I hadn't even found out about Innocence and akuma, so I didn't know what to do when I found a glowing green ball. Since I was starving, I ate it." Roxy had barely finished that sentence when she was interrupted by a shout from everyone except Allen, who had not paused in his eating.
"YOU ATE THE INNOCENCE?!" Was the shout echoed by them. Roxy merely blinked in response.
"Hey, I was just a kid then, and I was hungry too," Roxy retorted. "Now be quiet, and let me finish." The others calmed down enough for Roxy to talk.
"So I ate it, and felt better. I didn't feel hungry anymore for a day or two and thought nothing about it till I was eleven and ran into my first akuma. I was collecting scraps of food from this chef at a café that day. I've forgotten his name, but I'll never forget the kindness he showed me. He was the one who never talked down to me or treat me harshly. Instead, he treated me like his daughter since he had one back home and she was around my age. I was always given the scraps of the day or when there was little business, a proper meal."
"I remember him telling me that his daughter was always sick and in need of medicine, so he always worked hard to earn more money. His daughter must have died eventually, that's why the Earl came to him and made him an akuma. Anyway, I came to the café that night to collect the scraps of food he usually offered, and everything was normal up to the point where he turned into an akuma, probably because of the Innocence he sensed in me."
"I was… so scared then. I didn't understand why my friend had turned into a giant monster in front of me. I just wanted to run away, but the route out was blocked by him. So, when I saw him firing a bullet at me, I did the only thing I could; raise my arms to defend my head."
"Next thing I know, there was a huge green flash and I found myself holding a scythe. It was smaller then, since I was still a kid. I didn't know what to do, but when another bullet was fired, I just instinctively knew what to do. I just swung my scythe, cutting the bullet into half before I slashed the akuma, destroying it."
"The resulting explosion was noisy, and brought attention to the alleyway. I knew people would come to investigate, but I didn't know how to hide my scythe. I just wanted it to disappear, and next thing I know, the scythe disappeared. I eventually realized that my scythe was kept inside me somehow, and that I could summon it into my hand whenever I needed it."
"I still didn't know anything about akuma though, so I just assumed that it was a monster, and lost trust in everyone since I just assumed they were all monsters in disguise. I kept hunting down the akuma when I saw them, and people who saw me said that I looked like a nightmare with my scythe and ragged clothing. That was why I named my scythe Nightmare." Allen finished eating at that point, and took over the story.
"As you know, I was just twelve when Master and I first met Roxy. We had stopped at a pub for that night, and as usual, Master started flirting with all the women and ordered expensive foods, leaving me to pay all the debts. Therefore, I played poker against some men, and won a lot of money, until Roxy joined in."
"She had been observing from the sidelines, and decided to show me who's boss, so imagine my surprise when this beautiful fifteen year old girl came up to me and asked me if she could join in. I said yes, thinking that I could win against her. Instead, I found myself losing, and rather badly too. Halfway through the game, my eye activated, and I was quick to excuse myself, and head over to Master, whispering in his ear about the akuma. I didn't notice that Roxy had seen my strange behavior, and follow me."
"So we went out, spotted eight level ones, and started fighting. We had barely finished and Master was about to destroy the last one when Roxy came out of nowhere and cut it in half with her scythe, destroying it. I was so shocked to see her, and Master just looked surprised."
"What really surprised us were her next words, 'So you're monster hunters too?' I didn't know what to say, but Master replied, 'Depends on what type of monster you're talking about.' That was how we found out about Roxy being an accommodator too. When we began to introduce ourselves, Roxy said, 'If you're General Cross Marian, then I'm glad I found you, cos I've been looking for you for a while, Daddykins.' Master and I were so surprised that our jaws dropped and Roxy began laughing away." Allen recalled, smiling as he recalled the hilarious memory.
Lavi had another question then. "How did General Cross react to that name?"
Roxy answered with a grin, "He was so mad, and went, 'If you're really my daughter, then treat me with more respect, young lady.' So I replied, 'Sure, when you begin treating me more like your daughter and not another woman or pupil.' We could have argued more, if not for the Innocence he had on him to suddenly react and come to me. The Innocence split into two, and bonded with two revolvers which I had stolen and hidden in my clothes since I had been intending to sell it for money, therefore becoming my Wolf guns."
"So that's how you got two guns in the first place?" Timothy asked in fascination. Roxy nodded in reply. By then, she had finished her food, and gathered up the empty plates to dispose of them.
"But if you became General Cross' pupil, why didn't you come with Allen to the Black Order?" Leanlee asked. Roxy rubbed her head sheepishly at that, Talon by now asleep on her shoulder as Allen led the way to the training grounds for more conversation.
"It's rather embarrassing," Roxy confessed, "because Allen and I were supposed to arrive together. But after my old man left us in India, we travelled for a while until we came to Europe. I wanted to travel more and see the world, while Allen wanted to head straight for the Black Order. We eventually decided to split ways and promised to keep in contact through letters. When I wrote a letter to my dad and told him that we had split ways, he said he didn't care, but he did say that he wouldn't tell Supervisor Komui about me, so did he?" At this, Roxy turned to Allen, who nodded.
"I guess he did, since Komui never mentioned you." Allen replied. The rest of the walk was filled with questions for Roxy, who answered them the best she could, Allen chipping in every now and then.
"So when did you get Talon?" Lavi wanted to know.
Roxy thought for few minutes before replying, "Around one year after I met my dad and Allen, we were travelling through a forested town when I found Talon lying on the road, his wing broken. Since I have a soft spot for animals, I took Talon in and nursed him back to health. Ever since then, he has been close to me or Allen, and also a great indicator of Akuma activity since akumas tend to agitate him somehow. Funnily enough, Talon hates the idiot, and whenever my dad tries to coax Talon into landing on his arm, Talon will just glare at him and raise his talon, making my dad mad."
Lenalee asked the next question. "Why did you decide to come to the Order after travelling for so long?" Lenalee wanted to know.
"Travelling the world with only a falcon for company can be rather boring, so when Allen told me about his evolved Innocence and the Noahs, I decided to come to the Black Order and join up with my little god brother here," Roxy replied, winking at Allen, who flushed with embarrassment at the comment. Roxy wasn't finished though.
"Then again, he's not the only one I wanted to meet. I've been wondering, where is that old man of mine? I mean, given the fact that he's always so loud, I ought to have heard him by now?" Roxy asked, scanning the area, not noticing the shocked looks Lavi, Lenalee and Link were giving Allen.
"Allen, you never told her about the General?" Link was the first to ask. Roxy was quick to notice this, and with a seemingly uncaring manner, said, "If you're talking about my dad running off again after returning to the Order for a few months, I won't mind since he never liked staying in one place." However, Lavi could see the brief hurt in her eyes at this, and looked pointedly at Allen, silently urging the younger boy to talk.
Allen gave way to a resigned sigh before speaking. "Roxanne, I'm sorry that I never told you, but… Your dad… He's… dead. Roxanne, I'm sorry, but Master Cross died a few months back."
Roxy froze at his words, and felt shock. There was a roaring in her ears, and someone was crying away in the distance, weeping their grief. A pair of hands were on her shoulder, shaking her shoulders, asking her to say something, anything. But Roxy didn't want to hear. She slipped out from those hands, and wandered off, not knowing where to go, just wanting to be alone.
She walked and walked for what seemed like ages, recalling memories she had shared with her father, those rare times when he had stopped acting drunk and had been a proper father to her instead. She remembered sneaking into his room when she couldn't sleep, just standing at the door, watching him sleep, or else standing outside when he slept with another woman and just soaking in his presence. It didn't matter to her that he had never been much of a father to her even though he tried. His efforts proved to her that he truly loved her as his daughter.
Roxy finally got tired, and leaned against the wall, lifting her locket out of its hiding place on her silver chain necklace. She opened the simple rectangular gold locket to reveal a picture of her father, Allen and her. Her dad was seated on a chair and smoking in the picture, while Allen and her sat cross legged on the ground with cheerful grins. He had not been happy about the picture, complaining that it made him look ugly, but she didn't care. To her, it was her only memory of her dad. Talon, who had remained on her shoulder all this time, started to croon softly and preen her hair. Roxy couldn't help but smile sadly at this. "Thanks Talon, I feel better now." She whispered. Talon crooned again.
"Roxy? You alright?" Roxy looked up to see Allen, smiling that sad smile of his, while Timcanpy flew to her, rubbing his head against her cheek. The others stood behind him as well, all looking concerned for her. I'm not alone, Roxy thought to herself, since I have Allen as my family. With that, she pushed herself off the wall, and nodded to them.
"Roxy?" Roxy was startled to hear Lenalee speak. "You're not alone, remember that, because here at the Black Order, we are all family." Roxy smiled at this.
"I know, so let's lay off the touchy feely stuff and get back to our conversation." Roxy reassured them with a bright smile. With that, she set off with her arms draped around Lavi and Allen, listening to them bicker among themselves even as she thought, the Black Order is my family now, Dad, so you don't have to worry about me being alone. I'll walk my own path no matter what and make you proud.
Raychaell: And there's the end of another chapter! Love it? Review then! And Roxy, stop crying.
Roxy: I'm NOT! And anyway, why should I cry? That idiot never really treated me as his daughter anyway!
Raychaell: So you say… Anyway, those who review will get dedications in the next chapter, so review already!