Chapter 2: Bookman
"INNOCENCE ACTIVATE!" Nao screamed as loud and clear as she could, making sure that what she wanted to happen will happen.
A greenish-light engulfed Nao, blinding her for a moment. Then she felt something on her back, pushing the akuma holding her away.
"What? You were an exorcist too? Gaaaah!" the akuma screamed as it got thrown back.
"What the-."
Nao heard flapping sounds and Lavi's gasp as she slowly opened her eyes. Even after the akuma released me, I'm not falling?
"What's happening- woah… waaaaAAAH! I HAVE WINGS. THERE ARE WINGS. OH MY GOD WINGS," Nao screamed in surprise as she looked behind her. "AWESOME!"
"Careful, Nao!" Lavi screamed, trying to get her attention. "He's right behind ya!"
"Woops-!" Nao back flipped away just in time to see the akuma coming at her.
"That was close." She heard clicking noises as the akumas around her prepared to fire. "Ohhhh. Not good." Nao, who still felt a bit unsteady flying, willed her wings as much as she possibly could to move out of the way. And before she knew it, she was high above the flock of akumas and the other exorcists.
Pink bursts of energy below her indicated that the akumas fired. Nao was safe, but the akumas had turned their attention to the other exorcists beneath her. I want to help them, but I don't know how. Nao frowned and looked around her, hoping for something that could help. She felt the rabbit in her arms paw at her right wrist. She looked down at them and noticed the birthmark of the bird was shining. Nao lifted her other wristband, revealing the other glowing birthmark underneath that still displayed a flickering flame.
"Are you saying these are my powers?" Nao asked the rabbit. It nodded.
Nao eyed both markings. "Well, I'm assuming the bird is giving me wings. So what does the fire do?" she asked. The rabbit tilted its head.
"You don't know either, huh." Nao took a deep breath, "Then let's do this." The rabbit's ears perked up. It looked at Nao as she flapped her wings back in preparation.
"With trial by fire!" Nao charged, diving straight into the flock of akuma.
...
Lavi swung his hammer in front of him at an attempt to block the akumas' incoming attack. "Tch, there's too many!"
"Lavi!" All of a sudden a large flame engulfed the enemies in front of him, stopping their advance. The girl from before landed lightly on top of Lavi's hammer.
"Nao?"
"'Sup! The introductions will have to wait until later. I'm here to help now," Nao smiled down at Lavi.
Lavi grinned, "Sounds good, but you'll have to get off my hammer first."
Nao laughed and launched herself at the nearest akuma. The marking on her wrist glowed brighter as Nao placed her left hand in front of her, summoning a torrent of flames that engulfed the akuma before her.
"Amazing," Lavi breathed as he watched Nao plow straight through the horde of akuma. It surprised him, to think someone could learn to fight akuma so quickly.
"Gonna help or what?" Nao stopped and asked Lavi.
"Oh! Uh…" Lavi slapped his face. What am I staring at? Geez, I don't have time for this! Circles of every element appeared around his hammer as Lavi raised it high above his head. "Fire Seal: Conflagration of Ash!" Lavi swung his hammer down as hard as he could. A ring of fire formed as he stamped the ground with the fire symbol. The head of what seemed like a large snake made of fire burst from the center, devouring and destroying the remaining half of akuma in an instant along with the level 2. Lavi blinked.
"Awesome!" Nao called as she landed in front of Lavi, wearing a large grin. "Thanks, that helped a lot! I was getting kinda tired too."
Lavi looked down at his now shrunken hammer, perplexed.
"Is something wrong?"
"Ah- no nothin'!" Get a hold of yourself. Why are you spacing out so much today? Well, that seal just now did turn out a lot stronger than expected.
"Guys, behind you!"
The peaceful moment didn't last long when Lavi felt a strong impact on his right side. Before he knew it, Lavi was flung right into a building. "GAH!"
"Lavi!" Nao and Allen screamed. Allen looked at Nao quizzically. When did this girl get wings?
Just then, Allen heard a familiar hum behind him, he turned around just in time to find the level 2 he was fighting aim at Nao, who was making her way towards Lavi. But he noticed too late, Allen watched in despair as dark matter launched itself at Nao.
"NO!" Allen could only scream.
Nao heard Allen scream and turned her head around to see the projectile closing in on her. Nao gasped. Unable to move in time, she braced herself for impact. At that moment, something struggled in her arms and hopped out. There was a instance of blinding brightness. Nao heard something shatter, and when the light died down, the rabbit was gone from her arms. A moment later Nao realized what had happened. She stood there, stunned.
"Tch, I didn't get her." The akuma that just fired lifted it's barrel, preparing to fire again. But it was too late. Allen stood behind the akuma. His arm transformed into a cannon, and he fired at point blank. The only thing Nao saw was a light and the akuma fading away.
"Are you alright?" Allen asked, walking up to the girl. He looked down, noticing shards of white glass on the ground before her. "What happened?"
"I'm fine," Nao bent down and brushed her fingers over the broken parts of the glass rabbit. It wasn't moving anymore.
"It protected me."
...*Time Skip*...
"Oh yeah! We haven't had a proper introduction yet. My name is Allen. It's nice to meet you!" Allen extended his hand.
"Nice to meet you too, Allen," Nao smiled and shook his hand.
"My name's Lenalee. I hope we can become good friends!"
"Me too."
"I'm sure ya know by now but I'm Lavi," Lavi grinned. "Nice ta meet ya! And this panda here is- GEH."
Nao winced as Lavi got hammered into the ground by the old man standing next to him. "THAT HURT, OLD MAN!"
"Who do you think you're calling a panda! You idiot!" he turned his attention to Nao. "Naomi Chaput, the innocence accommodator, yes? It's nice to meet you. I don't have a name so just call me Bookman." The old man extended his hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Bookman," Nao replied, shaking his hand. Huh? Did I tell him my full name?
"Is it okay that we call you Nao?" Lenalee asked.
"Yup, that's what most people call me."
After the fight, Nao, Allen, and Lavi joined up with Lenalee and Bookman at the train station. They planned to accompany Nao back to the Black Order, where she would become an exorcist and join the war between akuma and exorcists. Or more accurately between the Millennium Earl and exorcists. The group was on their train ride to headquarters when Allen and Lavi explained everything from akuma to innocence to the Millennium Earl and Noahs.
"So i'll be fighting as an exorcist too," Nao responded after a long explanation.
"Are you worried?" Lenalee asked, concerned.
Nao shook her head, "Just a little anxious, that's all." War, huh. Naomi sighed and looked out the window, she listened to the rattle of train tracks as a plain of virescent grass passed her by in a blur.
Lavi's eyes narrowed. He's gotten quite good at reading people after all these years of observing them, and he could tell that something troubled Naomi. Oh well, whatever.
"It's been a long day, why don't we all get some rest?" Lenalee suggested. "It's going to be a long ride back after all."
"Your right," Nao mumbled, rubbing her eye. She couldn't tell if it was because of the soothing vibrations of the train or the fight she had with the akuma, Nao felt worn out. So many things happened in one day, meeting exorcists, discovering her powers, fighting akuma, packing and moving to the Black Order. Nao just wanted to sleep, so she closed her eyes, letting the gentle sway of the train take her over...
…
They're all asleep. That didn't take long.
"You aren't going to sleep? Lavi." Bookman muttered, peering at the boy.
"Someone's gotta keep an eye out right?" Lavi answered. "You just get some sleep, old man."
Bookman looked at Lavi for a moment before accepting the response and dozing off. Lavi laid back and sighed, he didn't feel tired and wasn't quite sure why.
…
It's been two hours since the train departed. Lavi sat patiently in his seat, reading a small book in his hand. A comforting hue of azure and crimson light filled the compartment as the train made its way to the other side of the mountain range they had entered a while ago. Lavi heard Nao stir awake in the seat across from him.
"Lavi?" she mumbled, rubbing her eye.
"Whatsup, Nao. Get enough rest?" Lavi asked with a small smile.
"Mhm. Lavi, you're reading a book?"
"Yeah, something the matter?" Lavi slowly closed the book.
"Oh nothing. You just didn't strike me as someone who would read books, that's all."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lavi laughed quietly with Nao. "Well, I suppose it's because I'm working to become a Bookman."
"Bookman?" Nao looked at the old man sleeping next to Lavi.
"In this world, Bookman is the only one who knows about what people call hidden history. We record and research stuff that don't appear in your typical history books," Lavi explained. "Well, I'm currently working my way to becoming the successor."
Bookman... recording history... Nao smiled, "So, you're traveling around the world to observe and record what is happening in this time period?"
Lavi nodded and grinned, "It's a troublesome job, ya' know."
Then why are you doing it? Nao asked in her mind, keeping up with her smile. "So what are you going to do with all the information?"
"Eh?" What was I doing this for again? That's right, I thought it was cool… to know what others don't and remain observant as I watch the world move on, separated from it all…
Nao blinked and looked down regretfully, it looked like a sensitive topic for him. "Lavi, I-." Nao stopped midsentence. She and Lavi heard something shuffle beside them.
Allen, slightly disturbed by the noise, repositioned himself and mumbled something before falling still and breathing deeply again.
Nao grinned. An idea just popped into her mind. "Lavi, do you have a marker?"
Lavi nodded then smirked, pulling out the marker that he's been keeping stashed in his pocket just for occasions like this. He looked at Nao who looked back and nodded with a serious expression. Here's the mission: give all the exorcists here a much-needed makeover, and do so discretely. Lavi nodded back, letting Nao know he received the message.
"Then let us begin," Nao whispered with a sly look on her face.
...*Mini Timeskip*...
Perfect! Nao leaned back, admiring her work of art.
Lavi, peered over her shoulder to look at Allen's doodle-filled face. That's a real masterpiece right there, Nao! Wearing a cheesy grin, he high-fived Nao (quietly). All of the exorcists in the compartment have fallen victim to their face-doodling practices. Mission complete!
Thanks! You're not so bad yourself! Nao mouthed the words to Lavi.
Hehe, with practice comes perfection! He mouthed back. The two partners in crime began to giggled uncontrollably at the thought of watching their companions' expressions twist in horror as they discover what abomination has happened to their faces.
I kinda feel bad for doing this to Lenalee though. Nao thought to herself just as she heard Allen stir.
"Mmm? Lavi is that you?"
Geh! Nao and Lavi eyes widened in terror. Both of them froze, not daring to move an inch until Allen fell back asleep again.
He's a light sleeper ain't he? Lavi thought, sweat-dropping. (^_^")
Let's get out of here while we can… Nao mouthed, signaling Lavi to follow her. Sliding open the compartment door as quietly as they could, Lavi and Nao tiptoed silently out of the room. Once they reached the end of the train's hallway, Nao gestured to a narrow staircase nearby. "Want to go up? I think the second layer is a dining area," Nao suggested, keeping her voice low as many of the passengers were asleep in their small cabins at this time.
"Sounds good, let's go!" Lavi followed Nao and making his way up the stairs. But as soon as he was about to reach the top, Nao stopped in front of him. "Hm? Nao, whatsup?" Lavi asked, trying to look around her to see what she stopped for.
Nao turned her head around, revealing a big smile. "Seems like we're really lucky tonight," she stated before finishing the climb.
Lavi tilted his head sideways before taking the last step up to the second floor. When Lavi finally looked up, he saw Nao beaming brightly and pointing upward, "Look!"
Instantly his mouth fell agape with incredulity. What he saw surprised him so much that Lavi noticeably gave his very first genuine reaction in a long time. Plastering the ceiling was a smooth, almost rich cloak of black, dotted with dazzling clouds of silver specks and a tinge of lavender, sapphire, and gold. Lavi gawked for a moment longer before noticing that what he was looking at wasn't the ceiling. He was gazing through the dome-shaped glass above him, straight at the night sky. Lavi inhaled, he almost forgot to breathe.
"This is… Is this…?" was the only thing Lavi managed to say.
"This is our Milky Way," Nao answered.
This? Our Milky Way? I never knew… He continued to stare up at the sky, taking the view in.
"Lavi."
Lavi looked at Nao, standing with the scenery around her and smiling gently at him.
"Does your journey as a Bookman give you experiences like this?"
A/N It's 2 AM XP
Just as a preview, tomorrow (Aug 10) will be a very special day!