The three remaining Exorcists, and trailing Noah, had reached yet another obstacle, a river, wide and deep with a current that would surely sweep them away. As if that wasn't bad enough, the trees...yes, the trees...attacked them. All along the bank, trees of all kinds stood, lashing out at anyone who tried to get close to the bank. The opposite bank was completely clear, though.
"ARRRGHHH! How the HELL are supposed to get to the other FUCKING side!" Kanda screamed, annoyed.
"Quit acting like a woman." Lenalee said, looking at him. The Noah watched in amusment from their hidding place. They planned to let the Exorcists figure it out for them, but seeing how it was going, it wasn't likely that they'd get across.
"They won't get across, this was a trap set by Ryuu. Renita designed, Ryuu made it real. There's only one way across. Noah-sama's, follow me." All of a sudden Talisman leapt form his hidding place and landed near the group. Scar groaned before putting on a cloak and a mask.
"What are you doing?" Tyki asked, looking at him.
"Hiding who I am, they know me." He replied following Talisman. Deciding they would have found out about them either way, they followed Talisman. Allen's eye activated and he looked to Talisman, eyes wide at the soul in the Akuma. The soul covered in binding seals that spread away from it, surrounded by a purple aura, was smiling a genuinely happy smile as it laughed. Not a normal Akuma soul, at all.
"Noah!" Lenalee exclaimed, before noticing the look of shock on Allen's face."Allen?"
"That woman, is an Akuma, but the soul is so happy...Happy to be an Akuma?" Allen said, before shaking it off. Talisman smiled at them.
"Please refer to me as a male, I was before I willingly became an Akuma." He said. Tyki watched the trees whip their branches at Kanda, who decided to try again. "Noah-sama's, please follow me." And with that, he ran at a tree, leaping up as the branched crashed down. He grabbed the branch before it swung back up at a break-neck speed, launching him across the river. He hit the ground and rolled. Jasdero and Devitto clapped at that.
"Sweet moves man!" Devitto called.
"Yeah, hii! Sweet Moves!" Jasdero repeated.
"I'll go next." Tyki said, smiling like an idiot (a/n: In my world, he's like a teenage girl with too much energy. :/) And running forward. He mimicked Talisman's actions but landed on one foot with his arms spread out eagle style. Road followed, landing gracefully on one foot and waving to the Exorcists. Jasdero and Devitto crashed into the dirt, both ending up with a generous amount of grass in there mouths. Scar was the last person there. Sighing, he ran toward the tree, but didn't grab the branch, just stepped on it. When he was thrown into the air he curled into a ball and just slammed into the ground, leaving a small crater.
"Well, Exorcists, we'll see ya at the top! I know my way around here pretty well, so bye-bye!" Talisman exclaimed, waving to them cheerfully. He smiled again, turning on his heel and walking away. Soon the Noah were gone. Kanda growled.
"Dammit! We can't let them get ahead!" He was about ready to launch himself across, but was stopped by Lenalee, who grabbed his arm.
"Kanda, that Akuma really bothers me. According to Allen, it's soul was happy. That and remember what Lavi said when we were on the train?" Allen perked up at that.
"That's right! There were rumors about a monster that used to be a citizen of the village. A woman became a monster after her second husband's death." No one doubted that the akuma was the monster. Without another word, they crossed the stream.
"W-what?" Lavi stuttered, looking at the crying man in front of him. Jhonathan's large eyes were still closed.
"Save me. Please, Lavi, I don't know what to do. Please, help me." He said, sinking to the ground in despair. Lavi just stared, confused.
"What? I don't know what you mean...I-" Lavi was interupted by the return of Ryuu and Ace, who fell from the sky and landed next to him. Ryuu looked up and a flicker of anger appeared in her eyes, but was quickly covered by worry.
"Ghosty... no... Jhonny-san, what's wrong?" Ace asked, going over to him. Ryuu looked at him sadly.
"It's the same thing as always, isn't it? We need to save him, once we do he can return to the Black Order. We still haven't retrieved his Innocence..." Ryuu said. Hearing that, Lavi perked up and looked at the blue-haired girl.
"Could his innocence be the one here on the mountain?" Ryuu looked up at him.
"Are you talking about the crystal?" She asked. Ace blinked then shook her head.
"Jhonny-san is a crystal type exorcist. His innocence is in his blood." She stated. Jhonathan looked at her. Her face was steeled defensively. Ryuu nodded.
"Oh! Ace-chan! Speaking of that, I wanted to know if you wanted to try something? You see I made you a crown from the crystal and I have these gauntlets I made..." Ryuu trailed off wondering what Ace would say about her experiment.
"YAY! ACCESSORIES!" Ace said, smiling happily. Lavi was watching their interactions with interest.
"Ah...Ace-chan...Please." Ryuu held out a box and opened the lid. Inside was a green tiara obviously carved from a gemstone. "Ace-chan, it's made from the crystal, I thought that maybe I could channel some of my powers through this crystal, since it was the Innocence's origional residence. The gauntlets I made for me should be able to do so, since they're the same substance...this way, I can help you fight if you get in a bit of trouble..." Ace's eyes widened at the sight of it. Plucking it up gently, she turned to Jhonathan.
"Help me?" She asked, looking at the man. He stood and fixed the tiara so it was settled into her hair.
'He has a whole nother family here.' Lavi thought, watching. Ryuu nodded to Ace before turning to Jhonathan and holding out a different box. She smiled when he took it.
"What-?" He started, but his eyes dulled slightly and narrowed, sliding to the side. Ace noticed and looked at him.
"What is it?" She whispered fearfully. He turned his eyes back.
"Nothing." Ryuu smiled at him.
"Do you guys like it?" She asked,"Oh! I forgot! I made you something to, Lavi-kun! It's still on my workbench, if you want, I can get it for you now." Ryuu turned to Lavi as she spoke, and watched him look between the other two, both admiring their gifts. Lavi noticed the bracelet that was worn on the left wrist that Jhonathan had. It resembled a bracelet he'd worn before. It took him a moment to realize that Ryuu disappeared. She soon returned though, smiling at Lavi with her hands behind her back.
"Jhonny? Ace-chan? If you don't like them I can change them." She said this as she shoved a small box into Lavi's hands. He stared at it blankly.
"I like it! I'mma princess!" Ace said, puffing out her cheeks.
"It looks like my old bracelet." Jhonathan said, looking at it.
"Glad you like it!" Ryuu exclaimed, turning back to Lavi. "Well? Ya gonna open it?" They looked at him expectantly. Slowly Lavi opened it and pulled out a crystal carved in the shape of a book, hanging off a small silver chain. He just stared at it for a few moments before looking at the others. Their's was made of the same crystal.
"They're all from the same crystal..." Lavi said, staring.
"FINALLY! I can't believe we got here first!" Everyone whipped around to see who'd been talking. "AH! It's you!" Ace blinked as Tyki quickly grabbed her hands and grinned. "You're even prettier up close."
"Thank you. I get it from my mother. She's a skeletal hell warrior that will be unleashed when the apocalypse is upon us!" Ace said. The entire place just got creepier as a strange aura surrounded her.
"That's right, you have a dark disturbing past..."
"We all do." Ryuu said happily. The Noah all stare at her, before looking around the place.
"You, your the girl that disgiused herself as a boy!" Devitto exclaimed, pointing dramatically. Ryuu just nodded happily. Lavi gave her a questioning look.
"Your a crossdresser? I never would've guessed." Jhonathan cuffed Lavi on the back of the head with a gentle smile that was getting stressed.
"How rude." He said, his closed eyes twitching dangerously. Ryuu glared at Lavi and stuck her tongue out when Jhonathan wasn't looking. Lavi made a face in return. The two were continuing their game when the Exorcists caught up to them. Lenalee and Kanda looked at Jhonathan, who was currently battling with getting the two squabbling teens apart from each other while Ace was getting hugged by Tyki against her will.
"J-JHONATHAN!" The male looked up, only to be tackled in a hug by Kanda and Lenalee. He stared at them blankly, before his memory kicked in.
"Lenalee. Kanda. What are you doing here?" He asked. Road cleared her throat, and Talisman glanced at the group before growling at Lavi. Allen also stared at Lavi, but it was more relieved. Although Ryuu was currently preoccupied with getting Ace away from Tyki.
"We're here to find an Innocence! It's supposed to be here." Kanda replied.
"We're so glad your alive! We thought we'd never see you again!" Lenalee cried. Ryuu tried to stop the chaos, but failed. She sighed, and whistled loudly. Three large wolves, one of which was the one from earlier, landed in the middle of it all and howled, drawing the attention to them, Ryuu, Ace, and Lavi. Jhonathan struggled to his feet, pulling the two teens with him. He blinked when he saw that he now had to look up into Kanda's face.
"Okaa-sama?" Kanda asked, noticing how Jhonathan's eyes were all watery. Lenalee looked at him questioningly as he slid to the ground, his lip trembling.
"Oh my god, all my adorable little children are so big! Even Kanda-kun is taller than me!" He wailed into his hands. Everyone stared at him, even the wolves.
"Okay...Well, why are you all here?" Ryuu demanded, now supporting Lavi, who had started swaying dizzily. She did not like the look Talisman had on his face. Allen stepped forward and bowed to her.
"We are exorcists from the Black Order. We came to retrieve the Innocence located on this mountian and also for our friend." He stood and smiled at her, gesturing to Lavi before holding out his hand. "I'm Allen Walker. And the two hanging off your friend are Kanda Yuu, and Lenalee Lee." Ryuu took his hand.
"I'm Ryuu. That's Ace, and that's Jhonathan. These," She gestured to the wolves," are Amaroq, Silver, and Flare." She pointed at the black wolf, then a silvery wolf, and finally a bright red wolf.
"Hey! We were here first, brats!" Tyki said, huffing.
"YEAH!" Jasdero and Devitto exclaimed, pouting. "What makes you think you have any right to just come here and take the Innocence!" Something went flying and hit them in the faces. Jhonathan stood over the twins, who were sprawled out on the ground with a sadistic smile on his face.
"Pardon me, but just WHO are you calling brats?" He said, his smile twitching so that it cracked his lip. Road shook her head.
"We can't take the Innocence. The Earl said to retrieve the EXORCIST GIRL. At all costs. Sound familiar?" She said. She got a blank look from the Noah men. It was easy to see that they had completely forgotten.
"Wait. So your saying the Innocence already has an accomadator?" Lenalee asked. Road nodded before she realized who had spoken.
"Hii~! Maybe it's the pretty girl with the blue hair!"Jasdero said. Devitto nodded in agreement.
"Would be nice, huh? Of course I wouldn't mind the other girl either." Both smiled at each other, as if reading each others thoughts. For all the others knew, they were. Jhonathan did a sander attack(fling down on the face) on both of them. As an added bonus, he slammed his heels into their stomachs, and hooked his fingers in their noses, lifting them up until the blood started flowing down his arms.
"Jhonathan, please put them down. I need you to take Lavi-kun inside." Ryuu said. Lavi shook his head, ready to argue, but Ryuu ignored him. She handed him off to Jhonathan once the Mongolian had cleaned his hands. Allen tried to stop him, obviously worried about having his friend out of his sight.
"Please, sit." Ryuu said, as small flat platforms rose out of the ground. There were enough for everyone, and each was covered in a layer of soft, thick grass. Ace sat next to the other girl at the head of the group, the three wolves lying around the girls. The others hesitated, but sat down as well. Soon Jhonathan returned and sat on the opposite side of Ryuu. Jhonathan and Ace sat on either side of Ryuu, almost as though it was an arranged seating formation. Both of their faces were steeled into a serious expression. The exorcists took the left three seats, and the noah (and talisman and scar) took the right six seats.
"So, Exorcists. You say you've come for an Innocence and for your friend, Lavi?" Ryuu asked. All three gave a nod. She then turned to the Noah. "Noah, you've come for an Exorcist girl? I see your Earl does his research." The Noah nodded an afirmative. Talisman opened his mouth but was silenced by a glare from Ryuu."I know why YOUR here." Then to Ace. "Proceed, please Ace-chan." The blond woman nodded and cleared her throat.
"Both of you shall tell why you are here and exactly why each of your leaders wishes for the Innocence and Exorcists. We shall be questioning you on your motives and what you want to do once you have obtained said Innocence and Exorcists. YAY!" Ace smiled as she screamed yay, signalling the beginning of the meeting.
"Take off your mask." Jhonathan demanded, looking at the masked man with the Noah. He refused.
"Leave him be. Now Exorcists, state your reason." Ryuu said. Allen spoke.
"As I said when I introduced myself, we just came for the Innocence and for our friend." Allen said with a slight bow and a nervous smile. Ryuu nodded.
"If it you found the Innocence, what would you do with it?" She asked. Jhonathan looked like he wanted to answer so bad but bit on his lip to keep from stating it.
"We would bring it back to hq where it would be protected from the Noah and the Earl who can destroy innocence with their bare hands." Lenalee said, glaring at the Noah. Devitto jumped up.
"Hey! You shouldn't make us the bad guys!" He exclaimed, and was knocked to the ground by Amaroq, who snarled at him.
"Debi!" Jasdero exclaimed. Ryuu called the wolf back to her and ignored Devitto's cursing.
"If the Innocence had an accomadator, what then?"
"They would be trained to use it fight and become an exorcist." Kanda answered sternly, but he refused to look at anyone but Jhonathan. The normally smiling Mongol was emotionlessly sitting there, looking like a stone statue. Ryuu then asked what they hadn't expected.
"What if they were already well trained? Would they have to fight? Kill every Akuma that crossed their path?" She glanced at Talisman, although only the akuma, Ace, and Jhonathan noticed. "What about Jonathan?" They were taken a back by the question. Ace seemed to have matured almost instantly. She looked at them with harsh cold eyes.
"What exactly would you do if you met a friendly akuma? Or a friend that was brought back? What then?" She asked, sitting up straight.
"I-If they're friendly, you wouldn't hurt them. M-most of the time though, the akuma kill you so it's either kill or be killed." Allen said, trying not to anger them.
"What do you mean, "What about Jhonathan?"" Kanda snapped. There was a dark aura around the two girls.
"First off, you exorcists think friendly Akuma means Cross's modified Akuma. But I don't think I could kill every Akuma if I were an Exorcist. Second, Jhonathan's Innocence is dormant at the moment. Would you help him with the same effort we've been using or would you half-ass it?" Ryuu responded coldly, almost hatefully. They were all taken back at the tone she used. Jhonathan's head was bowed, his bangs falling into his face. He muttered something, almost inaudible to everyone but who he was sitting near. Ace blinked but looked at him with a saddened expression.
"What?" Lenalee asked. Everyone present was shocked at the way he looked. Tears formed rivers down his cheeks as he stood and looked at them.
"So I can't be an exorcist anymore. I hate you all. I HATE YOU!" He screamed, glaring at everyone present. He was seething all the while, his calm facade lost. "THIS ALL HAPPENED BECAUSE I DEFENDED THAT DAMNED TOWN. ALL BECAUSE MY DAMNED INNOCENCE COULDN'T HELP ME. GOD DAMMIT!"
"Look, just calm down." Tyki said, raising his hands in a gesture that was supposed to calm him down.
"Calm down? CALM DOWN? YOU KNOW WHAT, SHUT THE HELL UP! YOU'RE ONLY HERE BECAUSE THE EARL WANTS RYUU AND HER INNOCENCE WHEN WE ALL KNOW THAT INNOCENCE IS THE ONLY THING DANGEROUS TO NOAH! I'll bet the fucker only wants to use the ability it has to get the upper hand in the war! After all, he'd kill you all if you even TRIED to go against him!" Jhonathan yelled, jabbing Tyki in the chest angrily. Tyki, who didn't take too kindly to that, pushed Jhonathan. Ace gasped when her friend hit the ground, crying out in pain. A red liquid pooled around him, making him blink.
"W-what-" "You useless idiot." Ryuu's eyes darked as she let out an inhuman growl.
"You. Get. Away. From. Him." She growled. The Noah had retreated to the opposite end of the clearing and the Exorcists followed soon after. Talisman, however, stayed nearby. A woman stood there, wearing a skin tight bathing suit like thing covered by two long pieces of cloth held by a belt. She had long black hair and pale skin. Two sets of tattoos were on her cheeks, right below her eyes. Her eyes were black where the whites should've been and red on the irises. They were narrowed in a dangerous fashion while two large horns were on her head, going backwards.
"You're... Dead Raiser..." Jhonathan went to back up, but he was grabbed by the throat and lifted up by the woman. He clawed at her hands, trying to make her let go.
"HEY! LET HIM GO!" Lenalee yelled, running forward with Kanda close at her heels. Ace stopped them, giving them a cold stare.
"No." Ace looked to her fuming friend, although no one else could hear it, she could. 'Get away. Leave him be.' She didn't know how she could hear Ryuu, but she did. She knew the girl was losing her mind. That was proven as, when Jhonathan let out a choked cry, Ryuu lunged forward, knocking Dead raiser to the ground. She looked different though, gleaming gold wings and a long serpentine tail with a large black blade on it. If one looked closer they would see silver claws and fangs. Dead Raiser easily got herself out from under Ryuu, but was held still.
"Sonata: Binding cords." Ace stood there, her large ahoge's binding Dead Raiser firmly. Ryuu grabbed Jhonathan, and put him down infront of the cottage.
"Jhonny, get Lavi-kun into the 'basement'. I wish you had your Innocence right now, but I don't know what to do about it. I'm sorry I failed you." With that she turned to Ace. "Ace-chan! Let's try out the crystals!" Ace nodded, closing her eyes.
"Hi: Fire." The three strands of innocence turned to a steel like color before blazing with fire, traveling at the still bound woman. Jhonathan watched his friends. He wanted to help somehow. Any way possible. Kanda and Lenalee noticed him sitting there, muttering to himself while watching the fight. A flash and on his arm was his old innocence, although it flickered slightly before disappearing back under the skin.
"Crystal. He's a Crystal type exorcists." Lenalee said, watching. They stared at him for a moment before watching the fight.
"Great. Gauntlets activate!" Ryuu smashed her fists together and the gauntlets glowed green, just like Ace's tiara. Raising her hand in the air she pointed to the sky. "Dracos Electra!" A bolt of lightning shot into the sky and curved back around before disappearing into the gauntlet on the other arm. The bolt reappeared as it traveled through the tiara, and down the ahoge to shock Dead Raiser. Ace let go of her once the electricity hit Dead Raiser. The woman staggered but held her ground anyway.
"God's Blessing!" Dead Raiser turned, only to be hit with a metal covered fist. She skidded along the ground, before sitting up and touching a cross shaped indentation on her cheek. Jhonathan stood there, fist outstretched as though he'd just hit her. Ryuu smiled at him.
"Jhonathan...Is that your Innocence?" Ryuu said with a happy smile. Dead Raiser got up and made to attack Ryuu, but was stopped by Talisman.
"Third seal: Bind." Thin wires wrapped around Talisman's hand and extended to Dead Raiser's arm."Keep your hands off my daughter."
"LADY DEAD RAISER!" Scar abandoned his mask in order to get to Dead Raiser. The Noah followed him, seeing to as she was helping the Earl. He kicked Talisman harshly in the stomach before starting to work on the binds. Ryuu quickly went to Talisman's side, growling at Scar. Ace had gone to Jhonathan, checking to make sure his Innocence didn't hurt him. Two answers of I'm fine met each girl.
"Scar, you weren't originally Dead Raiser's servant." Scar looked at Jhonathan then stood and quickly went forward so he was only three feet away. "You had a family. They died, and you started killing people. You turned yourself into this, didn't you?"
"Hmph, like you should talk. After all, you're two thousand years to early to beat me." Jhonathan stared at him with the intent to kill. Scar returned the look with an equally insane look. Ryuu quickly stood between them.
"Friends of the Earl, leave now, you are no longer welcome here. I do not hate you, but your presence has caused unneeded violence. Go now before I use drastic actions." Ryuu said. It wasn't a suggestion, it was a demand. The look in her eyes was proof enough that it was best to listen.
"Fine by me!" Road groaned, grabbing Tyki's arm and beginning to pull her uncle through the door, ignoring his whines about wanting to bring Ace along. Jasdero and Devitto followed quickly, looking back at Talisman curiously. Said Akuma flipped them off while sticking his tongue out. They mimicked the action before disappearing. Scar helped a weakened Dead Raiser back, looking back to send a glare at Jhonathan.
"You'll wish you never did that, Ghosty. After all, Dead Raiser's the reason you're still here and she can DAMN well get rid of -" A rock slammed into his face.
"Shut the hell up. My name is Jhonathan, dumbass." He said, rolling is eyes in annoyance. Ryuu smiled at him, before collapsing to the ground. She sat on her knees, and sighed. The other Exorcists hurried over.
"Miss Ryuu! Are you okay?" Allen asked, looking worried. Ryuu nodded and smiled.
"We're sorry we didn't try to help you! We should've done something!" Lenalee exclaimed.
"It's fine," Ryuu said, looking at Kanda who was threatening Talisman. "Jhonathan, how do you feel? Is your Innocence back for good?"
"Dunno. My arm's a lot stronger than it used to be." He said, patting it. He didn't say anything but the skin of his arm parted to reveal a largg metallic claw with crosses on the fingers.
"Woah! That's your innocence!" Allen said, looking at it. "What's it called?"
"It doesn't have a name. I just call it God's Blessing." Jhonathan said, holding it with his other hand happily. Ryuu nodded. Talisman came to investigate.
"If you failed to use this before, why did it activate this time?" He asked, looking at it.
"You don't understand Innocence, your an Akuma." Ryuu said.
"Wah! Are you disowning me 'cause I'm a demon? You can't do that! I love you, don't disown me!" Talisman cried and latched onto Ryuu. She blush deeply and shoved him away.
"Oh, my innocence must've went dormant to help heal this." He said, smiling as he took off his dress like shirt. There, all over his body, was stitches, some opened up, some completely closed, others healed, and one or two infected. Lenalee's mouth hung open.
"Jhonathan...T-that looks horrible." Kanda stared as well, but as always, moved on to the next thing.
"What were those Noah doing here? Aside from the usual." He asked, glancing at Ryuu and Ace. Before he could get an answer Lavi walked out.
"Oi, what happened? I woke up inside and last I remember, I was out here." He looked around and saw Ryuu on the ground with Ace next to her. He made his way over and sat next to her. "You alright?" Ryuu looked up at him.
"Of course I am, baka. If I wasn't, I'd be dead." She responded with an annoyed look as she pretended to karate chop his head.
"Lavi!" Allen and Lenalee cried. Ace laughed and smiled like an imbecile.
"TEH FAIRIES ARE I LOVE WITH LAVI!" She yelled, falling backwards and laughing, saying 'I'mma princess!'. There was an akward silence after that as everyone stared at Ace. Ryuu looked to the ground.
"So what now?" She asked. Kanda replied with an irritated look.
"We take you three back to the Order." Ryuu looked back at the wolves.
"What about them?" She asked. Kanda glared.
"We are no-"
"Of course they can come!" Lavi exclaimed loudly, speaking over Kanda. Ryuu smiled.
"Oh, how exciting! I can't wait to see Jerry again! oh, and Marie and Daisya~! And the generals! Klaud and Winters and Froi! I don't wanna see Cross though. He can go die in a hole, the womanizing bastard!" Jhonathan rambled happily.
"I'm just glad Amaroq's family can come! Thanks Lavi-kun!" Ryuu exclaimed happily, hugging Lavi.
"Uh...Your welcome?" He laughed as Amaroq licked his face. Kanda came up behind him and hit him with Mugen's sheath.
"Don't make promises you can't keep, baka usagi. They won't allow wolves in the Order."
"They're wolfs, not wolves, yuu-yuu~!" Ace smiled, looking pleased with herself.
"Excuse me, HOW old are YOU?" "22."
"You really don't act like it," Lenalee said out loud.
"Well, they kinda have ta come. They're the only ones who can carry the crystal's remains." Ryuu explained. Kanda had a doubtful expression, so she decided to show them.
"That's the crystal, or what's left." Ryuu said pointing to a crystal twice the size on Jhonathan. Jhonathan wasn't paying much attention, trying to compare how tall Lavi was to his own height.
"Che." Kanda turned away, trying to ignore the fact that she was right.
"That's one big crystal. I see why you would need the wolves and...what are you doing?" Allen was watching Ryuu, who was crouched on the ground gathering crystals and other gems. She looked up.
"It's for the villagers. I figure I owe them since it's my fault the town went to hell." She said, smiling.
Read and review please?