Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray-man, its canon characters, or many of the presented concepts in this chapter. I do, however, own Adelphe McNeal and Tonn an Dochais. Quote is from BrainyQuote dot com
Previously on Til It All Falls Down:
The group continued to walk in silence for a while, and after staircases and hallways and more stairs Adelphe got the sense that they were heading down to a deep and potentially very strange area of the Headquarters. Strange and dare she say . . . scary. The further they went the less natural light there was, leaving all illumination to small lights on the walls and something far ahead—something that they were heading towards. She had the urge to activate Tonn an Dochais—the glow of the Innocence within the water was better than no light at all—but if the others could get by without light, she could too. Really she was just worried that she didn't know what she was walking into.
Adelphe fought to keep herself cool and relaxed—if such a thing was possible at the moment. I'm an "important asset" to the Order. They need Exorcists. They wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that . . . would they? Damn it, I can never figure these people out. Why don't they just say "by the way, Miss McNeal, we're going to sacrifice you to the sun god of Pechuchua" or some crap like that? It's always "you'll find out when you see" or "you'll be doing damage assessment upon arrival."
Once they finally found the source of the light, Adelphe stopped dead in her tracks.
T-Tonn an Dochais . . . "A-activate!"
"We have to distrust each other. It is our only defense against betrayal." – Tennessee Williams
Adelphe instinctively unscrewed the canteen on her leg as her gloves turned into blades. W-what is that thing?!
The Scot found herself in a large, open room with a small path leading to a platform. Said platform seemed to be sitting in the middle of what she could only think to describe as a pool of black water, and in front of the platform was possibly one of the strangest things Adelphe had seen in her time as an Exorcist.
It appeared to be a creature of some sort, but it was radiating light so it couldn't have been natural—well just looking at the size could tell ya that! The body was reminiscent of a snake, and the head seemed to be a woman with . . . was that hair? Adelphe had no idea what this was or what she was doing here, but she knew that this was weirder than any akuma she fought—and yet almost angelic or heavenly in its presence.
Even so, seven years of this Holy War taught Adelphe to activate first, ask questions later.
Upon hearing Adelphe command her Innocence, Chief Komui and the woman by his side turned to face the Scot with surprised, then wildly concerned expressions.
The Chinese man put a hand out towards the blonde. "No, stop! Hevlaska's an Exorcist, just like you."
Adelphe looked to him as though he had three heads. "What? How is tha—"
"Adelphe McNeal."
The teen froze at the voice. It was distinctly feminine, yet the way it echoed before even reaching the girl's ears said that it wasn't from a human. The aforementioned Exorist looked up at the huge white figure, and found it looking directly at her—well, if something that didn't have eyes could look.
"I've been waiting to meet you for quite some time."
The Scot's eyes shifted between Chief Lee and "Hevlaska," as he called it. "But . . . how do you know about me? I know I've definitely never heard of you."
"Every time you retrieve a piece of Innocence and have it sent to Headquarters," the Chief motioned to Hevlaska, "you were actually sending it here. To Hevlaska herself."
"Eh . . . huh?" Adelphe stopped herself then waved her hands in front of her face. "You know what? No. Never mind, trying to understand these things gives me a headache." She focused on the Chinese man. "So then why did you bring me here? I don't have any Innocence."
He nodded to her Innocence-clad arms. "You might not have any to surrender, but we need to know about the bond between yourself and Tonn an Dochais."
Her blades reverted to their inactive form as she crossed her arms. "It's my weapon; I use it to destroy akuma and that's it. I'm not . . . not 'bonded' with it, it's just a tool."
"Yet without it, you're no longer an Exorcist, correct?" The woman by the chief's side spoke up, earning a glare from the Scot.
"Just a quick examination and you're done." Chief Lee offered Adelphe a smile; a gesture which seemed to work to his advantage.
Adelphe sighed and dropped her arms to her side. "Fine. What do you need me to do?"
"Follow me." The Chinese man turned towards Hevlaska and started walking.
Adelphe followed, not sure what other option she had right now. As she got closer to the "Exorcist" she felt more and more on edge, if not by the unusual nature of Hevlaska, then by her size; the warrior in Adelphe couldn't stop thinking about how easily the giant creature . . . person . . . woman? could inflict damage upon a human.
Komui halted in front of Adelphe, prompting her to do the same. The Scot looked up and saw that not only was she very close to Hevlaska, but also that she was reaching for Adelphe with strange tentacle-like hands. The blonde tensed as they closed in, but wasn't exactly sure what to do.
"This will not hurt; do not feel afraid."
Adelphe almost asked what "this" was, but found an answer before words for the question. The tentacle-things wrapped around her body and arms and—wait.
The Scot looked down and found her feet were no longer in contact with the floor. In fact, the floor was moving away from her—noooo. She looked to Hevlaska's face wide-eyed, and found that she was being lifted towards it. Being lifted. She'd thought Hevlaska herself was unnatural, well THIS was unnatural! Humans didn't belong in the air, dammit!
Despite the being having told her not to be afraid, the girl started struggling—though she couldn't do much more than squirm. She grunted as she felt the grip on her body tighten, as though to further hinder her movements.
"Fighting her won't help!" Adelphe again looked down—to the detriment of what nerves remained—as Chief Komui up yelled to her.
Her hands curled into fists, just about the only movement she could now muster. "Let's see you—!"
"I remember this Innocence."
All present turned their attention to Hevlaska, even the distressed Scot. Said girl shook her head, "How can you 'remember' it? I've never seen you before."
"It belonged to an Exorcist many years ago. We assumed it had been destroyed when he fell. It is fortunate we were wrong, for it is a powerful weapon."
Before she could respond, an odd sensation distracted Adelphe. Her skin on her arms felt like they were tingling, yet the term didn't seem quite right. She looked to one of said arms and found the tentacle-hand things were glowing where they were contacting the flesh, as well as her canteens.
"Two percent . . . fifteen percent."
Adelphe looked to Hevlaska, confused—but that wasn't exactly new. This whole damned thing was too weird to think about.
"Twenty-three . . . thirty-nine . . . fifty-two . . . seventy . . . seventy-four." The hand things started moving away from the girl's body. "Your current synchronization rate is seventy-four percent."
Adelphe looked to one of her gloves, "Is that . . . a good thing?" It wasn't until after she spoke that she realized she was being lowered towards the ground—a very welcome realization.
"That's pretty strong for someone first meeting Hev," the Chinese chief again spoke up as Adelphe neared the floor. "But for a veteran Exorcist, I'd say you're right where you should be."
Once the girl's feet touched the ground, she took a moment to make sure her footing was stable before she sighed with relief.
She looked to Komui, "I'm confused though—my Innocence used to be a pair of gloves handed down from my grandfather. Are you telling me he was part of the Order and I never heard about it?"
"It's more likely that when Tonn's former Accomadator died, someone found the gloves before we could collect the Innocence."
"It is possible though, right? He could have been an Exorcist?"
A small smile met the man's lips. "I suppose it is possible, yes. But whether they were found by your grandfather or given to him, or perhaps even were his weapon, the fact still remains that since the Order is familiar with your Innocence, we might be able to help you better utilize it."
"Your Innocence has great strength, but it will falter if you do not trust that strength. Do not bear the weight of the Holy War upon yourself alone."
Komui looked up at Hevlaska. "A prophecy, Hev?"
"A warning. I can see you take the punishment of this life upon yourself, Adelphe McNeal. You must learn to trust your Innocence and those around you . . . or fall."
The girl bowed her head and brought a hand up to the scar on her face. As if my scar—or any of them—were intentional. As if I don't trust my weapon . . .
After a moment of silence a hand lightly grasped Adelphe's shoulder and started turning her away from the giant Exorcist.
"Thank you, Hevlaska." The chief looked from her to the Scot. "It's about time we get you back to the infirmary. I'd rather not have the Head Nurse hunt you down."
Adelphe neither responded nor protested as she was steered back down the hall they'd come only a short while ago. Trust those around you . . . trust your Innocence . . . what was she going on about? Just because I don't hold back and prefer the direct approach, that doesn't mean I'm reckless. In fact, if anything . . .
"There's something I need to know." Adelphe paused as Komui glanced at her curiously. "You had no word from me for three months, and when I do show up it's bloodied and unconscious. Then when I wake up, I get 'welcome to Headquarters,' a grand tour, a bit of combat training, and meet the . . . 'Exorcist' you keep hidden away from everyone. So answer me this, how is it that you trust I am who I claim to be?"
The Chief's expression turned from curious to grim as he sighed. "Miss McNeal—"
"Call me Adelphe."
"Adelphe, we're hardly in a position to be picky when it comes to expanding our numbers, especially with recent events. That aside, Exorcists are perhaps the most vital members of the Black Order; treating you as an enemy would greatly disrespect both the value and sacrifices of you and your comrades."
Komui took a few more steps before he seemed to notice Adelphe wasn't next to him. He turned to the girl to find she'd stopped in her tracks and was now glaring at him.
"You mean you can't afford to lose your pawns just yet."
His already-grim expression seemed to further darken. He tilted his head down and a glint crossed his glasses, hiding his eyes from the Scot's, "My superiors may see Exorcists as expendable, but believe me when I say the lives of those under my care and command are my top priority." He turned away from the light, allowing shadows to hide his features. "I will not allow life to be lost needlessly."
Adelphe was tempted to ask what her cynical side wanted to—"and what if someone says decides it is 'needed'?"—but she had been an Exorcist long enough to know her answer. Fancy title or no, she was a fighter, a soldier—and soldiers were expected to die for their cause.
She resumed walking, head down as she passed the chief. She'd spent enough time speaking today, she just wanted to rest.
The Black Order's lively mood dissipated as the halls saw less and less traffic and candles were extinguished throughout the building. Still, even as most seemed to be sleeping, there was one mind that couldn't put the day's events to rest.
You must learn to trust . . . or fall.
Adelphe stared blankly at her gloves, her Innocence she was told she had to start "trusting," and brooded.
Trusting implied caring enough about someone to put yourself in the position where they could easily hurt you. Humans trusted their loved ones were indeed human, often to learn they were actually monsters that lived to kill others. Soldiers trusted their equipment or weapons, and when those failed the soldiers would fall. Subordinates trusted their superiors, only to be thrown from one dangerous situation to the next. Trust wasn't worth the risk – it was safer, and simpler, to learn to use one's resources but trust only in themselves.
No, she'd been thinking about it ever since her meeting with Hevlaska and she realized that she in fact didn't trust anyone—not her comrades, not her superiors, not her weapon.
And she didn't care to change that anytime soon.
A/N: Okay, majorly late with this update, I'm sooo so sorry guys. It's a mix of work, other things I have going on, then the fact that we know so little about Hevlaska's interactions with Equip type Exorcists that I kinda had to wing it. All I had to go on was Lenalee learning her sync rate had dropped below ten percent, in which Hev only needed contact with her legs. Though, in the new Headquarters there isn't a platform like what they had at the old castle, at least not from what I've seen from the manga—so I figured it would be easier for Hev to hold onto the Exorcist she's examining, whether they like it or not, than for her to reach down to them on the ground
I would like to thank ChikitaWolf for being a sounding board for me while working on this chapter (well actually this whole fic I think—I've been pestering her about little things at a time) and TotalBlondeChick010 (Chatterbox010 on dA) for not letting me forget about this story ;w; I fully intend on continuing it, it's just nice to be poked every now and then and reminded that people do actually read this
I am going to try and make a habit of working on this more often than I have in the past, but I have more stuff coming up that might distract me. But please bear with – this story is very much alive in my heart and mind, even if it's slowcoming getting to the web
If you see any mistakes, oopses, or things you may disagree with, please feel free to let me know. Thank you guys so much for reading TIAFD and I hope to see you soon!