A/N- WELL. i seemed to have left all my spanish shit at school and i have un muy grande essay due manana. fuck my life. soo i have free time right now. might as well pick this thing up from doc manager and shine 'er up, yea?
anyways, enjoy. remember to review and vote when you're done reading my bullshit. :3 i always listen to music as i write and a lot of time the feeling i get from the songs are inspiration for my stories so i thought i might as well give you all the song that gave me the most plotbunnies.
Playlist- Ain't No Rest For The Wicked by Cage the Elephant (it applies to a lot of villains, at least i think so. :D) this and c.n blue helped me a lot. thank gott for korean music! xD
Disclaimer- don't own. don't sue.
Chapter Six
Invitation
London, England
Cyril's Estate
"Goodness, did you take a long while to awaken." Cyril noted, gazing calmly at the young man dressed in hobo attire. The young man paused in his shoveling of various foods into his mouth to roll his eyes, three eyes to be exact, at the elder Noah.
"Forgive me. Death is not easy to overcome." he snipped back. Cyril sighed. Why did he have to get stuck with the new brat? And where was Road? He'd seen the girl in the Noahscape but she'd disappeared into thin air after that. Cyril felt his paranoid/protective instincts creep over him. The younger Noah glanced at him and snorted. Idiot complex. "Don't get your man-panties in a bunch. Road's fine." Cyril glared at him.
"How do you know that! She could have been attacked! Or fallen over and hurt her knee! Oh, Road~!" Cyril cried. His poor baby girl. Just then said baby girl arrived through the door. The younger Noah gave him an 'I told you so' grunt which was promptly ignored. Road skipped into the room, all smiles and rainbows.
"Wisely!" she exclaimed, running over to the hobo and hugging him. "It's been so long!" Wisely hugged her back with one arm, the other holding up a mug of hot tea. His vessel was a Brit, after all. Tea was a must. He smirked a bit.
"Yeah, good to see you too, Road." he paused to give her a once-over. She'd changed in the past thirty-five years. "You've gotten a lot shorter since I last saw you. What, Cyril leave you in the dryer too long?" Wisely asked jokingly. Cyril fumed at the teasing Noah while Road giggled playfully. It was true she had gotten a lot shorter. She'd given up her older body for one of a child. It wasn't too much of a difference though, she was around nineteen before and now she was around twelve or thirteen. Road couldn't keep track.
"Ha, ha. No, I just like being a kid more." Road looked at Wisely's...poor choice of clothing. "Speaking of change, did you lose your sense of fashion while you were dead? You really cannot pull off hobo-chic."
Wisely snorted. "Well this is the best you can do when you're homeless on the streets of London. Such a dirty city nowadays." he said matter-of-factly, pulling at the ratty scarf around his neck. Road smiled.
"Oh, we'll fix that later. Ah! Guess what I have!" she said. Wisely and Cyril shrugged. Knowing Road it could be anything from a bag of candy to a severed head. Road grinned and produced a black card from her back. She held it up for the younger Noahs to see. (She was the oldest Noah, after all)
It was of medium size and rectangular shape, the sides of the card garnished in pretty silver swirls and crosses. On the center was single, silver apple with two bites taken out of it. The back of the card was adorned with five words in silver cursive. Cyril's lips curved upon seeing the message, as did Road and Wisely's. The Millennium Earl was such a card...
XDXDXD
St. Petersburg, Russia
Ekaterina's POV
I gasped for air and my limps were moving about sporadically without my control. My head...my head hurt so much. Every single memory and emotion that I had stored away and forgotten was rushing back into me, sweeping me up in the flow. It was a flood of sadness and sentiments and I was sinking in it. Through my tears and hazy vision, I saw Allen and suddenly I felt all my rage directed at her. It was the exorcist's fault, dammit! I wanted to charge at her and wring her stupid neck, but my body convulsed again and yet another memory ripped through me...
I was sitting in my old seat again, with all of Ms. Perovskaya's students. It was a Monday and we were waiting for our teacher to arrive, strangely she was late today. My breath hitched, I remembered this day. The memory continued to play itself out. We waited, and waited, and waited. But she never came. We all waited for four hours for Ms. Perovskaya to show up but she never did. Everyone thought it was strange that she hadn't shown up, much less that she was late. She usually showed up an hour earlier to prepare the day's curriculum. Finally we started to filter out of the church and go our separate ways, having concluded that she wouldn't be coming that day.
Deciding to get something to eat, I headed for the market. My teachings with Ms. Perovskaya had given me the confidence to hold my head high and walk down a street crowded by people without feeling out of place. Most people didn't recognize who I was anyway, and those that did, well, they ran for their life so it was no concern of mine. While purchasing some candy from a vendor, I overhead some women gossiping nearby. It wasn't my intention to eavesdrop but their failed attempts at whispering really made it hard to ignore.
"They've done it! They've finally done it! The czar is dead! They have killed him!" the lady in the fur hat said. The other woman wearing a blue shawl hushed her friend.
"Shh! Quiet! We must not speak so lightly of it. You never know who could be listening." she chided. I indirectly shivered, feeling a bit intrusive listening in on their conversation. Her companion in the fur hat pressed on.
"But, Aggripina, it was the Narodnaya Volya. They were the ones who killed the czar. Why should we have anything to worry about?" she asked. Aggripina sighed and shook her head at her friend's naivety. By now, I was clenching onto the small bag of sweets for my life. The Narodnaya Volya? That...that was the group that Ms. Perovskaya was a part of wasn't she? Her organization had killed the czar? It was almost impossible to believe. The czar was the one who was said to have divine right, a gift from the gods. How had he fallen? And why wasn't the country in complete turmoil yet? Subjects without a king...surely Russia couldn't survive as that.
"Veronika, haven't you heard? The Imperial Police have launched a secret investigation of the Narodnaya Volya. They're trying to keep the czar's death a secret for as long as possible. Can you imagine what would happen if word got out to other nations that Mother Russia was without a ruler?" Veronika's brows furrowed.
"We would be invaded and captured within days." she murmured. Aggripina nodded.
"Not only that. Everything would be chaos." she stopped for a moment then went on. "We should stop talking about this. The police are hunting anyone connected to the Narodnaya Volya down like dogs. Let us go." she finished. Veronika nodded and the two walked away. I, however, was frozen in place. My heart was pounding so hard and I had a feeling of absolute dread. The police...they were hunting the Narodnaya Volya down. That meant they were looking for Ms. Perovskaya as well. She was okay right? Right? I had to speak with her. I had to know what was going to happen to her. To me. To all of us that she had taught.
I stared down on myself with disdain. I wish I could have gone down and slapped myself across the face and told myself to run away. But I didn't. I was just a spectator.
It was the next day and everyone was back at the church again, waiting for Ms. Perovskaya again. I hadn't told anyone else about what I had heard but I could tell some people already knew. They looked every bit as nervous and anxious as I did. We all waited for an hour before we heard someone knock on the door. Everyone thought it was Ms. Perovskaya. It wasn't.
After no one rose from their seats to open the door, (Ms. Perovskaya had the key to the church so there was no need for us to open it), it was broken down and fell onto the ground, ripped from its rusty hinges. Everyone was silent as several large men dressed in matching military suits walked in. I recognized the symbols on their jackets' breastpocket. It was the Okhrana, the secret Russian Imperial police. Ms. Perovskaya had given us a lesson about them. They were cruel men who walked in the shadows and silently took out anyone who presented themselves as a problem to the Royal family.
One man stepped forward and spoke to us a deep, cold voice. "You lot are the students of Sophia Perovskaya, yes? Do not try to say otherwise because we have various pieces of information stating differently." He paused to eye each one of us carefully, looking for any indications of guilt or fear on our faces. Apparently he found some as his mustached lips curved upward. "We want any information on your teacher, Ms. Sophia Perovskaya that may lead to her capture. She's a wanted criminal charged with association to the organization responsible for the death of Czar Nicolas II. You best give up anything you may know on her wherabouts."
No one said anything. However I doubt that any of us even knew anything about where Ms. Perovskaya had gone. She never spoke to us about her other activities or where she went. The Okhrana officer grunted then shook his head.
"You're all a bunch of brainwashed fools, you know that? You sealed your fate when you let that demon woman corrupt your impressionable little minds. It's unfortunate but you all cannot be allowed amongst the Russian people. We can't risk you growing up and tainting other children with ludicrous beliefs and thought of insurgence. You must be disposed of. Goodbye, children." his words still had no effect on us and we could sense that that was getting him riled up. The man turned around and barked some orders to his men who in turn rushed forth and began grabbing us by the arm, leg, neck, hair, whatever. They dragged us down into the church's basement where they began brutally punching and kicking us all into submission and later, death.
I remember the pain that each impact of knuckle or steel-toed boot to my body wielded. I took the merciless punishment in silence, biting through my lower lip to contain the cries and screams welling up inside me. Some of the other students tried to do the same but in the end, the only sound was that of children screaming in torment then the noise our jaws made when kicked or punched broken to quiet us. I think out of the two-hundred and fifty bones in my eight year-old body, a hundred of them had been broken or fractured. I endured the cruel treatment for ten more minutes before at last, I became too exhausted and passed out.
When I awoke, I was fine. My body had healed itself and I was back to normal. I wish I could have said the same for everyone else as well. The basement was devoid of the Okhrana agents and around me were piles of children, my classmates, dead or dying unconsciously. The faint scent of blood was present in the air, I felt like retching. With wobbly legs and a queasy stomach, I found my way out of the basement and ran out of the church. I continued running from that place for a very long time. I was traumatized and untrusting of everyone around me, fearing they might be an Okhrana agent seeking out more 'tainted' children. Over time, I learned that Ms. Perovskaya, along with most of the other Narodnaya Volya members had been apprehended and scheduled for execution.
The revolution they had desperately been fighting for was never achieved. At least, not in their lifetime.
Eventually I found Ms. Perovskaya's grave. I had searched for it in order to curse her in death for everything that had happened to me and all her students because of her brashness. But when I found the tombstone I broke down crying, unable to utter anything coherent against her. In truth, Ms. Perovskaya was the closest thing I had ever had to a mother, as sad and as cliche as it was. My real parents had either been hateful or scared for me for what would later be known to be as 'my Innocence'. Ms. Perovskaya had taken me, and all the other students, under her wing and educated us. And no matter how things ended up, with most of us students dead and the Narodnaya Volya disgracefully hung, I didn't regret it.
That was went the Millennium Earl presented himself to me and opened my eyes about my Innocence. The Dark Matter he put inside me was both a gift and brand on my neck. I was eternally grateful to him and thus took upon the job he had given me. To hunt and to kill exorcists and extract their Innocence. I carried those missions out with Mother, another gift from the Earl. For a while, I truly thought I was doing the exorcists a favor by removing their Innocence and allowing them to move to a higher plane of existence. In my days of 'running', I had attempted that many times to commit suicide but was never successful due to the burden of my Innocence. It would not allow me to die.
In total Mother and I have killed a total of forty-three finders and seven exorcists. We would use the same tactic every time to lure the Black Order into sending their exorcists to Russia. Start some type of phenomenon in a rundown village then capture the exorcists and possibly their finders sent there. After that we'd kill them and remove the Innocence. That was pretty much our existence throughout the years. But now...this exorcist. Allen Walker...
Finally the memory released its grip on my mind and I dropped to the ground, panting and gulping for air again like a fish out of water. To me, it felt like I was without air for hours, miserably replaying that damned memory but it was actually less than twenty seconds. Allen was on the ground, two meters away from me, watching me intently and pressing her hand over the wound on her arm to quell the bleeding. Something hit me. What if...what if she saw what had happened between the Earl and I. Then that meant she saw me get branded. I looked at Allen with a horrified expression on my face. Shit!
The look in Allen's eyes clearly said that she was aware of what she had just seen. Dammit, suddenly I felt very low and ashamed...two more feelings/emotions that had resurfaced thanks to Allen. To have someone witness me become less than human, no matter how grateful I was for it. It was the greatest indignity possible for me. God, I wanted dearly to punch Allen's lights out.
Allen sensed my hostility and inched towards me, eyes still wide with that same 'sympathetic' (emphasis on 'pathetic') look in her eyes. It just pissed me off further. She even had the gall to speak to me in a time like this. "Look, Ekaterina...I-I saw what happened...with the Earl." she stammered. I was exhausted and mentally worn out but I still managed to shoot the pissant exorcist a glare that warned her to back the hell up.
Allen went on. "I just...I want you to know that I...understand..." she was choosing her words very carefully, I could tell. But not carefully enough. At the word 'understand' my eyes snapped open and widened. What the hell does that little bitch understand about me? She doesn't know me, who I am or what the hell I've gone through. All she saw was one tiny, miniscule event in my life and she thinks she's fucking Saint of Bullshit Sympathy? It drove me up the wall. I started pulling myself up from the floor with great difficulty, using my newfound rage as fuel to do so. If Allen were smart, she'd shut up and leave this place before I had the chance to wrap my hands around her neck like she did me.
But for some reason, Allen still didn't shut up. "I know you probably don't believe me," No shit, Sherlock. "But...I, no, the Black Order can help y-" This was where I drew the line.
"For the love of God. Shut. Up." I bit out. There was a long pause before I continued speaking. "I don't want your damn help, okay? I don't give a shit what you, your friends, or the Black Order could do to 'help' me. I neither need or want handouts from anyone." That was the most civil way I could put it since the default to that was rampant cursing and screaming. Allen frowned.
Her eyes darkened as he muttered quietly, "I know what you've been through...". But it wasn't quiet enough.
"SHUT THE HELL UP! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW, HUH?" I screamed at her. Allen looked surprised, hell, I'm a little surprised myself. I went on, screaming still. "YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A VATICAN DOG. A SHITTY PUPPET THAT THEY'LL JUST THROW AWAY WHEN YOU'RE NO GOOD!" when I finished screaming my face off, I found myself crying and out of breath. Allen was still gazing at me with the same annoying as fuck eyes of hers. What I wouldn't give to rip them out.
Allen doesn't speak so I spoke instead. There's just so much rage, it's as if it just appeared out of nowhere. I assumed it's all been pent up emotions I've kept inside myself for so long. The sadness from when I was with my family. The grief when my entire village died of typhoid. The joy and sorrow I experienced in my time with Ms. Perovskaya. Then the loneliness I bared after she died. Everything's just been transfered into one feeling, one emotion. Anger.
"You...you're not above me. Not even. You don't come close to me at all." Allen doesn't look phased. "You're worthless, do you hear me..?"
I'm out of breath and my chest kept heaving with both exhaustion and the difficulty that came with crying. In one final attempt, I pushed myself off the ground and created a copper scythe with a long, knobbly blade.
"WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIE!" I bellowed, swinging the scythe down on her head. Allen still didn't move an inch. Seeing this, my bloodshot eyes widened further as I charged several hundred volts of electricity into the scythe.
BANG!
I gasped as my body turned rigid as stone for the second time this day. The scythe dropped from my hands and fell clattering onto the ground. I looked down on my knee- it had a bullethole cutting clean through it.
"AGHHHH!" I screamed, falling crumpled onto the ground holding the wound. I looked around with wild eyes for the gunman but I only saw Allen, who was now up on her feet and walking towards me. The wounded exorcist approached me and knelt down, holding me in her arms. I looked up at her in shock.
"Please...don't do this to yourself anymore. The Earl is evil and has been using you as a means to further his goals. You're not a monster, a witch, or anything." I gasped. She had seen that too? "You are you. Ekaterina...Kurae." Upon hearing that, I burst out into tears, my sobbing coming out ragged and labored. I couldn't think, speak, or do anything but cry in Allen's arms for a while. Allen simply held my head gently and waited patiently as I wept.
However, that was when something within me snapped and my neck began to burn as much as the day I'd been marked.
XDXDXD
Earlier, With Tune
Tune's POV
I woke up when I heard Allen screaming, it came out of nowhere and easily broke my slumber. I found myself trapped in a dimly lit storage closet in an unknown building, surrounded by boxes. With haste, I ran out the door and into the corridor to look out the large doorway parallel to the room I was just in. What I saw confounded me. I watched as Allen, being controlled by his Innocence mercilessly attacked Ekaterina. From a broken window, I saw Kanda engaging in battle with a demonic-looking copper automaton. In that moment I knew that there was nothing for me to do to help Allen or Kanda. I was just a finder, a normal human being with any fantastical abilities or Innocence.
But the one thing I did have, was knowledge. Knowledge in chemical compounds and combustive reactions, in short, I was an explosives specialist. A chemistry nerd. Yeah.
Honestly, it'd just started as a hobby I had before I knew of the Black Order and something I used to play pranks on my older brother, Noise. (I'd even blown off most of his hair one time, even now it'd hadn't fully grown back. He used to have long, hippie-like hair..) But when I joined the Black Order to assist Noise, I quickly learned that us finders are at a great disadvantage. Lacking Innocence or any combative training, on the battlefield we were like pigs to the slaughter. So I had developed my love for chemistry and all things that go 'boom!' for combat scenarios in order to defend myself and those around me.
I hurried back to my room and rummaged through the boxes in the storage room, finding various typical household items, like cleaner fluid and aluminum foil. I smirked to myself. Perfect. Rolling up pieces of aluminum foil into balls and placing them into cans of cleaner fluid (containing hydrochloric acid) would make a very nice diversion. I began to pull out several more other useful things, organizing them into neat piles for my later use. From the folds of my jacket I produced eight medium sized sticks of dynamite. Three of them were wet and couldn't be used, but no matter I still had five sticks. I also brought for a chuck of C-4 and composition B. (Hey, I'm a pyromaniac. What can you do?) I grinned widely to myself again.
Yes, this would definitely work. I immediately got to working, using all intel on chemistry to build and set up bombs for now, later, and after.
In the end, I'd succeeded in creating over two dozen 'bottle bombs' for diversion, three sticky bombs in both this room, the pastor's office, the basement entrance, and inconspicuously hidden in the large room where Allen and Ekaterina were fighting. They all had one fuse, interconnecting each other so they'd go off simultaneously. Finally, from my coat pocket I took out my lighter and flicked it on, making a flame come out. Yes, it was still working as well. I still had a fighting chance in this battle. I prepared myself and walked out of the storage room.
XDXDXD
Allen's POV
I didn't have any clue what the hell was going on. One moment, Ekaterina was crying like a child (which she was, but still..) then the next she flips out and starts coming at me again with that freaky scythe of hers, aiming to chop my head off. Seriously, what the hell? Did we not just an emotional heart-felt moment of mushiness? Does that not mean anything in this day and age anymore? Two more sharp, copper projectiles zoomed past my head, courtesy of Ekaterina, of course. I grunted to myself, apparently it did not.
But all kidding aside, something did feel very off about Ekaterina. Her attacks were far less calculated and more brute force than anything. She looked ragged and was breathing in sharp, shallow pants whenever she got the chance to and many of her wounds had opened up again and started seeping blood. I knew I was almost equally as beaten up as Ekaterina, but jeez, it was like something was forcing her to keep on fighting and by the rate she was going, it wouldn't be long until her body gave in or bled out. Either one was plausible. I didn't want to hurt her any further but I couldn't just keep blocking and dodging her attacks anymore, I didn't have the stamina for it. I had to do something to incapacitate Ekaterina until she came to her senses or something.
'Okay! Last chance now..' I thought to myself as I launched forward heading straight for Ekaterina and her frightening scythe, poised to lob me in half. Just as Ekaterina was about to swing her scythe, I used Crown Clown's speed and dodged the attack, appearing on her side to deliver a killer roundhouse punch that landing perfectly on the edge of her jaw. Ekaterina's head instantly whipped back from the whiplash, a sizable amount of spit and blood flying from her mouth and she fell to the ground. I silently thanked Jerry for teaching me that punch a while back. He told me that back in his fighting days, the easiest way to get a one-hit KO was to connect your fist and a person's jawline in one big punch and that'd put them out without a doubt. By looks of Ekaterina with her poor self a pile on the floor, it seemed to work.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I fell onto the ground as well, sitting slumped against a broken able. I took a few more breaths to ease my still-hastened heartbeat and observed Ekaterina in silence. I truly felt bad for the girl. My life hadn't exactly been a cakewalk but hers was nothing to scoff at either. Ekaterina had the power of Innocence within her and if only the Black Order had found her before the Earl had, maybe things would have turned out a lot different. I noticed some of her blonde hair had landed close to her mouth (which was bloody from a cut lower lip), frowning, I kneeled forward a bit to move those pale strands away. Big mistake apparently, because Ekaterina, like some ungodly zombie-like creature, snapped open her eyes and grabbed my hand in an unhuman iron grip.
"Shi-!" I yelped, not expecting that in the least. Ekaterina rolled onto her side and pulled me in closer to her. I could do nothing but comply since her hold felt like a pair of iron-cutters clamping down on my wrist. In a matter of minutes, Ekaterina had crawled on top of me, a pair of copper cuffs molded from the ground held my hands in place and her hand had moved from my wrist to my neck, compressing my throat ever so slightly that I was having a bit of trouble breathing. Her free hand was held over my face and covered over in flaky copper, focusing more on her fingers, turning them into long, sharp claws. Despite feeling rather awkward (there's something very wrong with having a little girl clad in a scanty black dress sitting on you as she kept you in a semi-choke hold), I was panicking. I'd exhausted practically all of my power from fighting for so long and I didn't have enough strength to call on Crown Clown anymore.
I shut my eyes as Ekaterina brought down her claw-hand and prayed for a miracle.
Kaboom!
And got one in the form of Tune.
Normal POV
Tune moved quickly, chucking his 'bottle bombs' in random directions to confuse the enemy and keep them from figuring out his location. The finder had arrived in the nick of time it seemed and had surprised Ekaterina enough for Allen to grab the hand on his neck and throw the girl off himself. Allen then scrambled to take shelter behind some rubble as Tune continued his barrage of explosives. Ekaterina was still in a shroud of confusion as the possessed girl ran about trying to find whoever was attacking her. But it was no good as the little bombs seemed endless and kept hitting places she was trying to get to. Ekaterina was like an animal trapped in a corner with nowhere to go and surprisingly, it was all thanks to Tune.
As he began running low on his little 'diversion' explosives, Tune started to work on lighting the fuses to the more heavy duty bombs hidden in both the room he was in the other ones down the hall. By this time, Allen had found Tune and reached the finder as he pulled out his lighter and set the fuse ablaze.
"Tune! You're okay, thank goodness!" Allen exclaimed over the popping sounds of the aluminum/HCL bottle bombs going off. The exorcist glanced at the lit fuses being eaten away at by the fire. "Is that-" Tune nodded.
"More explosives. Specifically here and in the back rooms over there," he motioned his head back to the large doorway. "This place is going to go up in flames pretty soon. Where's Kanda? We've got to get out of here immediately." Tune explained, a stern look in his eyes. Allen frowned.
"The last time I checked, Kanda was outside fighting with Ekaterina's 'Mother', but I haven't seen him since. I'm pretty sure he's still outside thought.."
"Then we're set, let's go-"
"Wait!" Allen interjected. "What about Ekaterina?" Tune furrowed his brows.
"What about Ekaterina?" he asked questioningly.
"We can't just leave her here to be blown up!" Allen cried out. The finder looked disbelievingly at the exorcist he was assigned to watch over.
"Allen, as much as I'd love to risk my hide saving the psychopath who tricked us, abducted us and brought us up to this godforsaken place to be slaughtered, we can't. I didn't have enough time to figure out all the calculations while making these bombs so I had to go with my gut instinct sometimes and when it comes to this sort of...explosive science, guts aren't enough to go on. Bad things could happen."
"Bad things like what?" Allen asked. Tune sighed.
"Faulty fuses, premature detonation, et cetera, et cetera," Allen looked horrified. "Look we don't have time to worry about my mistakes, alright? We've got to go. Now." Tune said firmly. Allen was silent for a moment but finally gave in, sighing softly in defeat.
"Fine.." he replied softly, getting up and following Tune's lead to the door. But suddenly, a loud bang came from the back of the room and several sounds of collapsing rubble was heard. Ekaterina screamed. Allen turned around and saw the rest of the room erupted in flames, the ceiling had been blown off and several support beams had fallen to the center of the room. One of those beams had landed on Ekaterina's left arm, locking the girl in place. Allen glanced at Tune who face could only be read as 'Oh, crap.'. Premature detonation...oh, crap indeed.
Before Tune could stop him, Allen started running over to help Ekaterina, yelling past his shoulder at Tune for the finder to get out and find Kanda and that he'd be back as soon as possible. Tune really didn't have a choice by to do as told. However something seemed have jammed the door. Ugh. Shit.
XDXDXD
"Ekaterina! Ekaterina, are you okay?" Allen shouted, holding his sleeve over his nose, the smell of smoke was overpowering. From the floor, Ekaterina glared hatefully at the exorcist who'd come to 'rescue' her.
"What the hell kind of question is that, dumbass? My arm's been crushed by this piece of shit and you wanna come and ask me if I'm okay? Fuck off!" she barked back then winced softly as the pain in her shoulder hit sharply again. Bitching did not help.
Allen knelt to the ground and tried to pry the heavy, burning wooden beam off the young girl but it was too much. The thing must have weighed over two-hundred pounds. Even if Allen managed to free Ekaterina's arm, she'd probably never be able to use it again. Allen felt a knot of guilt curl up in his stomach. He gave the girl a once over and found nothing to soothe his worries. Most of her left leg and right shoulder was covered in burns and the skin had already started to form boils blister. The recent burns coupled with past injuries (that were now already bleeding profusely) did not seem to make a positive outlook- not in the least.
Another explosion was heard as one of the back rooms finally blew up as well. So much for a 'simultaneous detonation'. Allen frowned, things weren't looking too good now, were they?
"Not looking too great, huh, Vatican dog?" Ekaterina jeered halfheartedly, sharing the same thoughts. Allen shook his head, the heat from the flames surrounding him making his face flush and eyes sting and water up. (Or at least he liked to blame the fire) God, he felt so useless now. This was a little girl, for heaven's sake, a twisted and devilish one albeit, but a little girl nonetheless. And Allen could do nothing but keep her company for a bit as the world fell apart around them. Literally. Allen hated himself for being able to do nothing.
Ekaterina watched the exorcist, emotionless. Even now this girl was still worrying about her when even she, herself, had given up and accepted fate? Exorcists really were such stupid people...
"Shut up. Stop feeling so sorry for yourself, exorcist. You won, okay? You defeated me and saved your friends. Shouldn't that be enough for you?"
"But you're going to die here!" Allen snapped back. Ekaterina didn't seem to care for his attitude.
"So?" she replied. "I'm fine with it. I had an interesting life and did some pretty wicked things. I'm good." Allen didn't understand this girl. Didn't she understand she was going to die a couple minutes? Why wasn't she fighting back, resisting death with everything she had left in her?
Ekaterina seemed to have read Allen's mind as she answered irritably, "I've already fought my fight and I'm content with that, even if I didn't win." she eyed Allen curiously. "You want to defeat the Earl, don't you?" Allen nodded blankly. "Well then you're still fighting. You've got goals, aspirations, and all that shit. I'm done with mine. Understand? Now get out of here. This place is 'bout to fall apart pretty soon."
"But, I-" Ekaterina grabbed Allen by the collar and pulled him near.
"Shut. Up." she growled fiercely. Then she sighed and a tiny sliver of blood slipped from the corner of her lips. "...You can't save everyone." She let him go.
"Wha-?"
"MOYASHI! DAMMIT, MOYASHI, ANSWER ME! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?" a new voice exploded into the burning room. Allen turned around and his heart clenched. There was Kanda, yelling and sprinting towards him, like some goddamn firefighter fueled by rage and soba. 'He's okay!' Allen thought happily. Ekaterina cocked a brow at the expression on Allen's face then proceeded to shake her head. Stupid love between stupid exorcists.
"Kanda!" Allen breathed out, coughing from all the dust the Japanese man had kicked up.
"Kanda, right?" Ekaterina asked. Both Kanda and Allen looked at her suspiciously.
"What's it to you?" Kanda snapped.
"Catch." she said, pushing Allen hard into Kanda, who caught him awkwardly. "You two lovebirds better get out this place. It's about to blow." Ekaterina advised.
Kanda growled and hoisted the moyashi over his shoulder and took off in the direction of the door. 'Dammit!' the samurai thought angrily. Allen writhed in Kanda's hold, yelling to be put down but Kanda just ignored it, focusing on getting both him and the annoying moyashi to safety.
XDXDXD
Ekaterina laid on the burning ground in silence. The exorcists had finally left and now all that filled her ears was the sound the dry, old wood made as it crackled in the flames. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't just a tiny bit sad about dying. Sure she had accepted it, but that didn't mean the feelings in her chest weren't there. Regret, sorrow, joy, love. The exorcist girl had opened up her Pandora's box and set free all these things Ekaterina had thought she'd forgotten about. Now thinking back, she was grateful that Allen had done so, not that she'd admit that, but being able to experience lost emotions and memories in her final moment was pretty nice. Ekaterina exhaled and felt her mind getting cloudier, losing a bit more of her life with that breath. She watched the burning beam above her with mild interest. It was set to fall very soon and when it did, that would be the end for her.
'Oh..it's finally broken...' Ekaterina thought idly as the large, flaming object splintered off from the ceiling and began its descent. Ekaterina took one last breath of searing-hot, ashen air and closed her eyes.
...But the impact never came. What?
Ekaterina's eyes opened wide in shock. Her 'Mother' had materialized in front of her and was holding the beam back on its arms and shoulders. She hadn't even called out to her...so why?
Strangely now Ekaterina felt something wet slide down her cheeks, burning at the small scratches scattered on her face. Tears. Truly strange.
A break in Mother's infrastructure was audible as the weight of the broken support beam became even too much for Mother to bear. Ekaterina let a smile tug itself at her lips.
"It's okay," she told the mock-Akuma. "Спасибо ."
The beam fell.
XDXDXD
Now a safe distance away from the crumbling church, Allen, Kanda, and Tune watched soundlessly as the church exploded angrily, sending plumes of black smoke into the light gray sky. Kanda grunted. Damn that finder could make some good bombs. (Wonder if he could help him get back at the baka usagi for all those idiotic pranks of his...) Kanda peered at Allen. The moyashi had been strangely quiet as they left the church and ran to find safer grounds. Had he tried to save the girl back in the church? He should have known she was a lost cause...sometimes Kanda couldn't understand Allen.
"Ehh? That's a pretty damn impressive bomb..." an unknown voice quipped, surprising the trio. Allen was the first to turn around. Oh HELL no. "Heh. Which one of you kids made that? You should have seen the shit I blew up with my little chemistry set back in the day.." Allen gaped at the person talking to...well, no one in particular. He seemed to zero in on Allen then scoffed in disbelief, twirling his revolver on his finger before slipping it back in the the holster attached to his long jacket. The jacket that only the Generals of the Black Order wore.
"You know, I came up to this shitty city because I had heard rumors throughout my travels in Russia about a young white-haired beauty in the land. Shame to see it's just you, baka apprentice." Allen and Kanda choked on their breaths.
It was the one, and only elusive womanizer General of the Black Order, Cross Marian.
'Fuck my life.' Allen thought bitterly.
A/N- ba-bam! cross and the noahs? YEA, SON, YEA. that's what's up. i finally sat my bitchass down and wrote finished this chapter. ughh. such a bitch to write. guhhh. uwahhh. ekat. why you no live? DDD: YES. i know dynamite would make a much larger explosion and ekat probly woulda died right then and there but let's just pretend tune's THAT good of a chemist and knew how to neutralize the dynamite to the extent where multiple explosions would be needed for the whole thing to go kaput. kk? :3
Terms and Translation
Okhrana- secret Russian imperial police. disbanded. known to have used very...unsavory methods to deal with insurgents.
Czar Alexander II- assassinated by the narodnaya volya, naturally the nv members were hunted down ruthlessly
Спасибо - russian for 'Thank you', pronounced 'spa-see-bah' (thinking back, using cyrillic was stupid cause i doubt you guys know how to pronounce it. mah badddd)
(end)
russia arc ended! FINALLY. yeah! now for the next one. (the noah one. YAYYYYYYYY)
REVIEW AND VOTE, AS ALWAYS! NEXT UPDATE WILL BE MUCH SOONER! (and way less serious..) BACK TO THE FLUFF, PEOPLE!