Ichijou cursed for the 100th time that evening as he tried dialing Kaname's number and failing to contact the other vampire yet again for the nth time now since he decided it would be pretty amusing to actually vanish into thin air. The Moon Dorm's vice president banged a fist on his desk, making the darkly-polished wood crack. He chewed the inside of his cheek furiously, furiously, until he could taste his own blood.
Damnit, Kaname, come on, pick up—
He redialed the number.
The subscriber cannot be reached. Please try again later.
"Damnit. Damnit, Kaname--"Ichijou ran a hand through his golden blonde hair and put his phone down, and then buried his face in his hands. He knew there was something wrong when Kaname's interest started to fade regarding his wedding with Yuki. Ichijou, like the rest of the Night Class loyal to Kaname, had never dared to ask what the problem was. And now they were regretting it.
He could hear Ruka and Aido arguing sharply in the adjacent room. Ruka's voice was so shrill Ichijou thought the windows would shatter any moment now. Aido was also screaming back, a trace of a snarl already in his voice. Tempers were running short. Time was running out. Kaname was still not found.
Footsteps. Ichijou looked up to find Seiren and Shiki coming to a stop before his desk. Both of them looked grave and Ichijou could only groan. More bad news--
"We've just confirmed it with the airport." Seiren said. "Kaname-sama left Japan approximately 20 hours ago. He also withdrew some 800 million dollars worth from the Kuran bank account. Chairman Cross has confirmed that a substantial chunk of the Academy's stock of blood tablets have disappeared."
Shit. Shit indeed. This was not good.
"Where's Yuki?" Ichijou said with great effort. There was no need to confirm again what Seiren and Shiki already confirmed for the class. Kaname was gone. "Is she all right…?"
"In her room." Shiki answered shortly. "Crying her eyes out and being useless--"
"Shiki." Seiren snapped sharply, cutting the other's sentence.
Ichijou gave a start when the phone beside his mobile started to ring. He bit his lower lip.
"Shit. Shit. Damn."
He picked it up and hoped against hope it wasn't the Council.
--
The place was a huge tower – fortress – located in the region of Auvergne, some three more hours' drive from the city of Clermont-Ferrand. They came upon some low rolling hills that seemed to extend as far as the eye can see, and then slowly sloped up to form mountains. Kaname had paused when General Kanda told him they'd have to go on foot from then on.
They hiked. The whole team of Finders, scientists, security and Kaname himself. General Kanda led the way, moving easily, up, up, tirelessly it seemed, until he was just a dark speck far ahead the mountain path that they could barely see.
What kind of place is this for an HQ?
He popped in two blood tablets as they hiked up, up and finally came upon a hanging bridge that connected the tower's foundation to the area they were standing on. The chasm between the tower and the cliff face was vast, maybe vast enough to fit two Nile Rivers side by side. Down below Kaname could see nothing except gray clouds and darkness.
"Monsieur, bienvenue."
This near the tower of the Black Order looked almost imposing. Kaname could only start to guess at the structure's girth, height and age. The thousand windows of the huge black tower all glimmered faint golden under the evening sky.
The Black Order, huh.
--
She'd told him her name was Hevlaska, and that she was not going to hurt him. In all of Kaname's long existence, this was probably one of the most striking and memorable in all of his years. He wondered what on earth she was (was it even proper to call her she?), and how could she possibly exist here, in the deepest depths of the headquarters and the whole mountain range itself, in darkness.
There was a maternal quality in her voice, in her very presence, and somehow it made Kaname Kuran feel young again, no matter how outrageous the idea seemed at one point. When she extended the white fog-like things that were here hands he recoiled for a moment, but she assured him, in the warmest tones possible, that hurting him was nowhere in her list of priorities.
General Kanda watched from the floating lift as Hevlaska, with another set of fog-like arms and hands, raised the Innocence fragment to sync with him. He seemed genuinely bored with the process.
Kanda was certainly unimpressed when the Innocence fragment reacted to its chosen host's presence, as it glowed and a warm breeze seemed to sweep the room. He didn't even blink when the fragment finally changed form, first to a scythe, then shrinking, shrinking, to a crescent-shaped and plain-looking pendant fit for a choker.
It was over as quickly as it had begun. Kaname felt as normal as possible, except for the vivid sensation that his thirst had somehow lessened – was that his imagination, or the work of his newly-acquired Innocence?
Hevlaska's voice resonated from everywhere and nowhere when she spoke again.
The Innocence of the Damned, at 70 percent sync rate, has successfully chosen its master. It is the twin half of the Innocence of Divinity, which still rests inside me. Exorcist, you will have powers over shadows and darkness. Use it well, and may God guide you in your missions.
Kaname looked at the pendant in his hand. How was he going to make this into a scythe again?
Next General Kanda led him to the Recruitment Department, and there Kaname was supplied with all the preliminary forms and book regarding the Black Order. His phone was taken away and replaced with a new one that looked so technologically advanced Kaname knew he would take days to figure out how it worked inside out. He eyed his old phone briefly before the clerk took it away, probably to be thrown off or destroyed.
"Fill up your forms and submit it to the girl again. Hurry up." General Kanda sounded as irritable as ever.
Hurry up? I have just been given forty pages worth of forms…
But then again, Kaname somehow already understood complaints would not get him very far here. He sat down by the nearest desk he could find and reached for a ball pen, then started on his forms. His hand paused on the very first entry to be filled.
Name.
He couldn't use his real name here. The Vatican would have his head, probably…
Kaname's hand moved of its own accord, choosing a name for himself even before his head decided on it.
Kraez Xanders.
--
The rooms looked substandard when compared with his chambers in the Moon Dorm of Cross Academy. The walls were painted standard white, and only basic furniture could be found: bed, desk, chair, closet, nightstand, and lamp. There was a computer with internet access.
Kaname quietly unpacked what things he had in the closet and took a moment to get used to the cramped space of his new room. Lucky he still had his own toilet, though there was no tub.
At least it's all tidy.
He sat down in front of the computer and decided to check his email. Kaname easily navigated over to Cross Academy's page and logged into the student mail service.
You have 5000 new mail.
Eighty percent of the email was from Ichijou, his subject headings rapidly changing from plain question marks to outright caps lock words demanding where he was. Kaname found those really amusing but never bothered to open a single one. Ruka, Aido and Kain also stuffed his inbox with demands for any news. Those were also ignored. Probably the most amusing of all was Seiren's only mail for him.
Please forgive their rudeness. They're only worried.
There was also one from Yuki: Where are you?
Kaname didn't open the mail though, and proceeded to click on the 'Delete All' button. He turned his head and cast a glance toward the plain clock hanging on the blank wall. Ten in the evening. Oddly, Kaname already felt sleepy, and it wasn't the vampiric languor.
He shut down the computer and went to bed.
--
Banging. The annoying, shrill banging of metal ladles against metal pots and pans woke up Kaname rudely at six in the morning the next day.
What the--?
His blankets were ruthlessly pulled away, and Kaname found himself sitting up, shielding his face from the sudden brightness of the sun outside.
"WELCOME TO THE BLACK ORDER!"
Wait, what? Who--?
Kaname's crimson eyes caught sight of a young white-haired boy in a General's uniform. Beside him was one of the men he saw yesterday in the Science Department, an American wearing a laboratory gown over a cream yellow polo shirt and gray slacks. The young, white-haired general beamed at him with gray eyes. Kaname noted that the kid had a weird marking over one eye.
"Hi! I'm Allen Walker! You're Kraez Xanders, right? Welcome to the Black Order!"
And the white-haired general who called himself Allen banged his pots and pans again, along with the man from the science department.
What the hell are they doing?
"And! As the start of the awesome welcome party for you, let Reever Wenham and myself sing the Black Order anthem!" Allen Walker declared, then cleared his throat. He and the man called Reever Wenham started to sing in French.
Kaname only watched, lips parted.
What. The. Hell. Are. They. Doing?
