Warnings: Grammar & Spelling, OOC-ness
A/N: This one is about twice the length of the last one, which I feel happy about. Not much talking going on.
Chapter IV. Destiny
Miranda was on edge. Who wouldn't be?
Allen was now labeled as a potential threat to the Black Order, had ties to the Fourteenth Noah that betrayed the Earl over thirty years ago, and Marian Cross was also in custody.
She wasn't allowed to speak to her teacher, and it was strange now being around Allen because of the Crow named Link. But she knew everything had to be fine. It had to. Allen was innocent and he would never betray the Order. Just because the Fourteenth made him the pianist of the Ark didn't mean Allen was a threat.
The Exorcist felt proud of Allen. He was taking this all in easily enough and wasn't letting panic and confusion take over him. She didn't care how "amazing" this guy was, but Malcolm C. Leverrier was a cruel man. His intentions may be for the good, but the way he made Allen be. It as as though the inspector already labeled Allen as a threat to man kind, completely ignoring Allen's convictions. Or maybe it's because the man is trying to pressure Allen and the results of that pressure will show his true side?
Ah. Miranda's head just hurts from trying to figure out that man.
And that Link guy. He was short, like Allen, and a bit strange himself. But he seemed nice enough, but he was always having to tail Allen. Miranda couldn't come sleep in Allen's room anymore because of the Crow, which was disappointing. She didn't mind always having to make a third cup of tea. In fact, it was rather nice seeing Allen interact with someone else during tea time. And Links baked goods were an added bonus to the experience.
But things were different for her as well. She was Marian Cross's student, she is Allen Walker's biological sister who is an exorcist.
Sibling exorcists. They were unthinkable, completely unheard of. There had been theories that exorcists' family members would be more compatible with innocence than a regular human. Research and extensive experiments were done into the theory, but it all resulted in the family member's death. But here it was.
Allen Walker and Miranda Lotto were siblings by blood, and exorcist.
This relation of theirs was now something be noted by the Special Inspector, and with that the Vatican would know. This bond would be seen as proof of their theory.
Miranda didn't have a Crow that would follow her around, but she was watched from afar. She could feel it. Link did pay attention to her and Allen's conversations. When Allen would be fighting with either Kanda or Lavi, Link would pay more attention to her reactions.
She was the only one that had no relations to the Fourteenth, yet her younger brother and teacher did. It was unusual to Special Inspector Leverrier and he had his dog make sure to note anything usual about the Time Record user.
Not that there would be much. She was as weird as everyone else, didn't the Special Inspector know that?
She was walking back to her room after leaving the cafeteria. The rumors had spread again and as a result, a fight broke out when they got too far blown. Allen's friends came quick to protect his honor, but the damage was done.
It was lonely, without having Allen follow her around like a duckling. He avoided her a little more due to Link and he seemed to not want her, his older sister, caught into the mix of it all.
A wrong turn later (curse her bad luck!), she was at a dead end with a painting. It was a dark painting of purple, blue and yellow paints depicting a cross, a man bowed before it and the hands of god on each side. That was all she saw. God. Crosses. Death.
"Interesting picture, is it not?" a voice said behind her, "It was done and given to us by a famous painter by the name of Mozaer near a century ago. He was a supporter for our cause and died to an akuma attack on his town five years after he had done this work."
Miranda gasped, turning around to see the Special Inspector himself. His hands were behind his back, his face and form sharp, and behind him were two dressed men: bodyguards.
"Y-You're-"
"We haven't met in person yet, Miss Lotto. I am Special Inspector Malcolm Leverrier. I was sent by the Vatican to evaluate Allen Walker and General Cross, and place evidence in his trial."
At this, the brown haired woman frowned. "Trial? Why? For being chosen for something he had no choice in?"
"Then tell me, Miss Lotto," Leverrier said, eyes narrowed and bright like a eagle's "Tell me what you know of this? After all, a young boy would always confide in his adult older sister, wouldn't he?"
Miranda's eyes widened, startled. He knew-?
"You do understand that these circumstances are unusual, considering your relation to Mr. Allen," he continued on, not waiting for an answer. "The Black Order is filled with orphans and victims of the Earl and his bastard army of Akuma. Yet the likely hood of finding old family in the Black Order is rare, and near impossible levels both are Exorcists with powerful Innocence.
"Your Master and brother are connected to the banished Fourteen Noah and you are the one with no visible connection? Tell me," he said, "What do you know of the Fourteenth Noah."
"Everything you just told me is all I know," she said quietly, "I wouldn't know anything if no one told me. I didn't know I had a brother until five years ago by chance when I was browsing through old news papers. It was by accident I found out and it was a miracle I even did. I looked for Allen for a year. I went to the orphanage he was abandoned at, to the circus he worked in, and lost hope when he left with a man who adopted him. I was in a bar when Master Cross came and revealed he had my brother with him for some months already. Allen and I trained and suffered under Master Cross. Nothing ever unusual happened."
Leverrier stared, silent, absorbing the information. "And your parents. What of them?"
"Dead. I couldn't even tell you their names," Miranda mumbled, looking away, feeling emotional at the neglecting memories of them. She couldn't remember their faces, or what they sounded like. They were only black forms that neither smiled nor frowned. Never were angry, sad, or upset. They were just forms that slowly erased themselves from her mind.
"Then how could you have learned of your brother's existence?" Leverrier demanded, looking at her in disbelief. "You needed their names, didn't you?"
Miranda laughed lightly. "I couldn't tell you how I found it. The letters looked familiar to me and I knew them. When I went to the orphanage, all I had to say was 'I was looking for a boy of these parents' and give them the newspaper clipping." She was quiet after that. "Do you believe in Destiny, Inspector?"
They only stared at her. The inspector blinked, a bit surprised and confused.
"I believe it was destiny that led me to my brother."
Thank you for reading.
