TWP: Alright, the fourth chapter! About bloody time.
Disclaimer: I only own Ava. Damn I hate saying that -.-
"LAVI!" Allen yelled when the redhead was swallowed. Ava noticed that the vines holding her were connected to the flower that had swallowed Lavi and she pinched it. The flower opened its mouth and Lavi thought his freedom was within reach but was pushed back when Ava was thrown on him and the flower closed its petals again.
"Lemme out already!" Lavi kicked and hit the flower from the inside but this only caused it to tighten the small space around them and Ava, who was straddling him, grabbed his arms, holding him down.
"Stop that, you're making it worse." She hissed as she was pressed into him.
"Making it worse? We're about to be digested!" Lavi hissed back and she hung her head.
"Didn't I tell you that I've dealt with these before?" She growled and he stilled. "Now, listen to me. Show the flowers you care about them."
"Say what?" Lavi asked her confused but she shook her head. "Just do it. You heard that Allen?" She called and his response was positive. She managed to crawl off him and began to brush her hands affectionately over the insides of the flower and muttered softly.
"What a beautiful flower you are. Would you mind letting us out?" The flower quivered for a bit and she nudged Lavi who had been watching her. "Come on. Show some love." He immediately began to do the same.
"I love you!" He began to cry and she giggled softly so he wouldn't hear and continued her ministrations. "That's right. You're a beautiful flower. I love your pink color; now please let us out so we can care more for you." The flower hesitated and it took a lot more of loving phrases and caresses before it opened its petals and Ava slid out while Lavi only sat up, halfway out and sighed. The flower didn't like that they stopped talking and began to chomp down on Lavi who grabbed its teeth and yelled some more.
"IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou!" The flower opened its petals again and he fell out. Ava patted the flower and smiled.
"That's a nice little flower." Suddenly one of them was hit by a bubble and fell down, completely dry and dead. "What's going on?"
"Where are Krory-kins?" Lavi called at the same time as Krory passed over them. "Ah, there he is!" But the bubbles came closer and closer to them and Allen dragged them to safety. All of the bubbles gathered at one place and they could hear Krory's pained cries coming from inside before they all burst into nothing and the dried out form of Krory fell down slowly.
"Arystar!" Ava called out and turned but Lavi pulled her back and saved her from being hit with a bubble that Eliade had sent after them when she noticed them. "Dammit, Arystar!"
"Get back!" Lavi yelled and pulled as she trashed around. "Lemme go, Lavi!"
"No way, you'll die!" Lavi tightened his grip and dragged her behind a pillar. Eliade turned into her human form and stood before his corpse, almost looking sad as she thought about how she met the man, but Ava didn't care about her expression. Eliade was an Akuma, an Akuma that just now killed her only living family. She was seeing red right now and Eliade was her target.
"I'll kill her." Ava growled and was about to charge towards her, not noticing Krorys corpse suddenly latching onto her neck. Ava ran forward with the other two behind her, yelling to the flowers that they loved them before they reached Eliade and Krory and watched as his body turned normal from sucking her blood. What surprised Ava though was the smile on Eliades face. She almost looked happy even though she was about to die. Krory detached himself from her neck and began to cry as Eliades voice grew soft and silent and she turned to dust. The only thing they could see was the soul leaving the mortal world.
Suddenly rain fell down upon them from the bubbles that burst. It showered both them and the flowers who soaked in it and Ava gave a sigh of relief. It was over and they were all alive. To think that a lone level 2 Akuma could give them so much trouble.
'And now I know for sure. Arystar is an Exorcist.' She thought as they walked up to said man who crumbled to his knees while holding Eliade's clothes.
"Are you okay, Krory?" Allen asked.
"I want to die…" Krory said brokenly. "I killed the woman I loved. I took away her life with my own hands."
"Arystar…" Ava didn't know what to say to her cousin. She had somewhat been in his shoes but she had no idea what would be a good thing to say. "But you had no choice." Allen said softly. It was true that by destroying an Akuma you set their souls free and gave them eternal rest.
"I've become the very monster I despised!" Krory said as he let the blue garments fall to the floor. "Healing my own wounds as I suck every last drop of blood from the veins of the one person who ever cared for me… Even when I knew it was going to destroy her I kept on going." He sobbed, calling himself a monster, a freak, again and again, and it cause Ava to remember when they were kids.
'Always called a freak because of grandpa… always called a vampire or monster because of this castle… it's unfair…' she thought and walked over to him and dropped on her knees before him.
"She wasn't the only one who cared for you Arystar. I do." He glanced up at her with wide eyes. "I care for you. You're my cousin, family. I came here to see you, not cause this shit to happen. It's already been years right? I missed you." She smiled softly and more tears poured down his cheeks as he looked down.
"But… I hurt you… I believed Eliades words and not yours and almost killed you." He whispered but she shook her head with a chuckle.
"That wasn't enough to kill me, I promise. I've been through worse. It comes with the job." She tried to cheer him up but it didn't work. He was too lost in his grief and hearing that Ava had received worse injuries didn't really help. Ava didn't know what to do but Allen did. He went up to them and grabbed Krory by his collar and lifted him halfway up.
"If it hurts so much, why not become an Exorcist? It's the duty of all Exorcists to hunt and destroy Akuma!" He yelled. "Whether you like it or not you destroyed an Akuma named Eliade today! You did that because that's what you're meant to do."
"Hey, wait a minute-" Ava began but Lavi grabbed her arm and hauled her back, shaking his head, indicating that she should let Allen continue his lecture.
"Now you've got two choices; you can wallow here in self-pity, or you can make Eliades death worth something. She's not coming back so do the right thing and make her death worth it!" Krory tried to maintain eye contact but found it too hard and looked away.
"Krory, whether you like it or not you're an apostle of Innocence. Just like us." The moment Allen said that she felt Lavi stiffen before he gave a silent scoff. She glanced at him confused but his expression was unreadable, distant, like he wasn't agreeing with Allen. Krory tried to calm himself, his tears seemed to disappear and he slowly got up on his feet, resolve in his eyes.
"You said there was another reason as to why you were here, Ava." He recalled and Ava nodded, taking out a picture from her pocket. Krory inspected it before he told them to follow him. "He did indeed visit my castle some time ago."
"What are you here for, Ava?" Allen asked and she handed him another picture. "I'm looking for this man. I am to meet up with the rest of the unit that's looking for him." Allen stared at the picture completely frozen.
"You're looking for my master too?" She could swear he was whimpering. "The General is your master?"
Krory brought them down into his cellar and showed them an empty vase Cross had given to him and Allen went into a depressive state as he remembered what flower that had been residing in it. The flower that had once been in the vase had been one of Allens many responsibilities when he had been Cross' apprentice. The flower had also bitten Krory and then withered and it was after that that Krory had begun hunting Akuma. The four of them concluded that the flower had contained the Innocence Krory was in possession of, and for certain, it was a Parasite type.
"Do you know where the General was headed?" Lavi asked and Krory nodded.
"Yes, he said he wanted to go somewhere far away and asked me to lend him money for his travels." Allen sweatdropped and hung his head.
'Here too?' Then they noticed Krorys sad expression.
"Are you okay?" Allen asked but Krory waved them off. "Please, don't worry about me. I'm fine, I really am. But can I ask a favor?" The three looked at each other before nodding. The favor was that they would wait outside the castle while he prepared himself for their journey. Not seeing the harm in that they all went out and stood by the great gate.
"Aaaah, the sun should be rising soon. That sure was a crazy night huh?" Lavi stretched his sore limbs. Allen hesitated before he replied.
"Yeah, but the only clue we got is that my master stopped by here. We still don't know where he went or why he stopped by here." He seemed a little depressed. The other two weren't sure if he was depressed that they didn't find General Cross or if it was because he was gathering more debts.
"Well, we found a new Exorcist in Krory-kins so it wasn't a total waste of time." Lavi tried cheering him up but it didn't work. It was probably because Allen felt that he had almost forced the man to become an Exorcist. Ava was glad this was the outcome though, because this meant she could see her cousin more often.
"I don't know about you, but I'm so sore. One of you are going to massage my back on the train, complete with an oil set, whether you like it or not." Ava pitched in as she rubbed her back with a slight wince. Having been forced through numerous stone walls in the castle had been pretty straining on her body.
"I will gladly help you!" Lavi exclaimed hurriedly with a silly grin and a heart in his eye and she laughed but Allen remained silent causing Lavi to sigh once more. "Come on, Allen, there's no need for you to act like you did something wrong. I mean, sure it may not be the ideal outcome for Krory right now but he needed a reason to go on living and you gave him exactly that. Give it some time and he'll come around, I promise." The sudden voice of Bookman startled them.
"That was an elegant speech." He almost seemed surprised by his student's way of words.
"Old fart! How long have you been standing there?" Lavi glared at him accusingly. "I just got here." The old man replied.
"You really worry about me that much? I can take care of myself! I solved this case with effort than it takes to change one of your diapers-" Ava ducked as he was sent flying over her and laughed at the poor boy when he crashed into a tree.
"That hurt you geezer!" He shouted angrily but Bookman shouted back as they stood glaring at each other, faces close to each other.
"Don't talk to me about effort you slimy punk! You could have used some of that effort to avoid damaging the castle!"
"Well excuse me for trying to not get myself killed and listen before you hit me, you panda!" Allen watched them with a small smile on his face but Ava was laughing loudly, finding the moment hilarious. You could see how much the two cared for each other, like real family. She calmed herself down and wiped away the tears that had leaked from her eyes. It had been a long time since she had seen such a scene. The last time was with her brothers years ago. She turned towards the castle with a small smile on her face but just then it exploded and fire consumed it. The smile slid off her face to be replaced with horror.
"Arystar!" She screamed and made a dash for it but Allen grabbed her and kept away.
"Don't... don't tell me!" Lavi didn't voice the obvious and Ava struggled wildly in Allen's grasp.
"He's still in there!" She smashed her head into Allen's forehead, managing to break free and made a mad dash for the castle but this time Lavi tackled her to the ground and held her there.
"Let go! Please Lavi! He's still in there! ARYSTAR!" She cried out and broke down as the harsh truth of reality dawned on her. Her cousin was dead and gone. There was no way he could have survived.
"Ava, look." Lavi said and she looked up slowly. It was hard to see anything through bleary eyes but she could have sworn she saw a shadow. She wiped her eyes as Lavi helped her up in a sitting position and now she could clearly see Krory walk out of the fire, completely unscathed. He took one long look at them before he chuckled.
"Take a look at your faces. You thought I died. I'm sorry if I gave you all a scare." He apologized. "You should know I fully intend to devote my life to being an Exorcist." Allen smiled.
"Great." He nodded. Krory smiled too before he was tackled by Ava.
"You idiot! You scared me to death!" He hugged her back and laughed silently. "Sorry. I promise that it won't happen again."
"It better not, or I'll kill you myself!" He laughed again at her empty threat. "It would seem a lot scarier if you didn't cry."
"I'm not crying, dammit!"
TWP: Fourth chapter is over. Whooo! Damn my hands huuuuuurt! It's a bit shorter than the other ones but still, it's an extra chapter up since some were very nice and reviewed the last chapter not even an hour after I uploaded it. Thanks xXxWolvesInTheNightxXx
Read and review please!