Act One: The Raven
Scene Six: Suddenly There Came A Tapping
"Tell me, thou Star…" Mirage glanced out at the open sea behind the ship. From her vantage point in the corner of mast and sail, she could see the speck that was La Esmerelda. They would catch up by tomorrow.
"Whose wings of light speed thee," she whispered, "In thy fiery flight…" She turned back towards the bow, and focused on the amalgamation of innocence and darkness that came slowly towards her.
"In what caverns of the night will thy pinions close now?" That Lenalee girl… The raw power she contained could be felt from miles away. Even now, it was like constant pressure in the back of her head, with a throbbing that grew in intensity. Despite the bleatings of concerned peoples far below, Mirage wasn't worried. The exorcist girl had not perished in her battle.
But if the red-headed boy who went after her wasn't careful, he would.
"Tell me, Moon…" She murmured quietly, ignoring the eyes that followed the sound.
"Thou pale and grey pilgrim…" Lavi, Tiedoll called him. An Exorcist with a large hammer for a weapon. She'd seen someone like him before, with the glass eyes. Someone just like the red head… and the ld panda man…
"Of Heaven's homeless way," Mirage took a moment to look over the ship, "In what depth of night or day…" The old man kept glancing up at her. She didn't like the look in his eye. It was just Gabrielle's stare – like Mirage was a puzzle to be taken apart and put back together at his leisure.
"Seekest thou repose now?" She decided to ignore the man as much as possible. Perhaps he would have some common courtesy and do the same to her.
"Weary Wind..." La Esmerelda had become clearer. Perhaps it wouldn't take a day to catch up. Father Tiedoll would want to know, so she'd have to go down soon… onto the deck. Mirage shuddered, stomach churning at the thought. Too much water, not enough height.
"Who wanderest like the world's rejected guest…" Hopefully once introductions were made and arrangements for transportation settled, Mirage could go back into her hammock. Or back on top of the mast, whichever got her away from water. And people. Weird people.
"Hast thou some secret nest…" The dark energy that she felt before surged once, before simmering down to the passive state she'd noticed earlier. Seems like that demon was coming… with both the exorcist girl and the red head. So he hadn't died after leaving the ship. Interesting.
"On the tree or billow?"
Bookman was distracted from his perusal of the new accommodator by the sudden appearance of a large crystal, with smoke or dust billowing from where it touched the deck. It was three or four times the height of an average man, shaped like an elongated diamond or kite. From the top, on either side, were four wing-like protuberances. Bookman had noticed the humanoid silhouette, but it wasn't until Anita pushed past him that he realized who it was.
(Our sweetest songs are those)
"Lenalee!" The Asian woman came to a sudden halt a few feet away from the crystal. From her perch above, Mirage stood at sudden attention. The air had changed, and a subtle wave traveled through the air.
Anita collapsed.
"Mistress!" Mahoja ran forward.
Anita clutched her head, eyes bulging and every muscle clenched. "My, my head… Hu-u-urts." Mirage hopped down from the mast to land at the woman's side. This close to the crystal, she could hear…
"A-a song!" Anita threw her head back. "I'm… breaking!"
(That tell of saddest thought)
Mirage wrapped her arms around the woman and pulled her back, using her innocence to do the same to all the curious sailors. When out of the crystal's sphere of influence, she released the woman into the care of another, who didn't even glance her way.
"Mistress!"
"Everyone who isn't an exorcist, stay back!" Bookman warned.
Tiedoll looked up at Lenalee's silhouette with awe. "The will of this innocence… It's overwhelming…"
"Old man," Lavi took a step forward, "Is this thing really Lenalee's innocence?"
"That doesn't matter right now!" Bookman snapped. "The innocence has broken free of its weaponized form and started to act on its own! An innocence protecting an accommodator?! That's unheard of! If such a thing was possible, why has it never happened before? Think of all the exorcists who might have been saved!" The man was thinking rapidly, calculating possibilities. This changed everything. How is this possible? Is Lenalee somehow special? If so, this information is invaluable. It must be placed in the archives.
(We look before and after)
Behind him, Lavi stared at his mentor. After all the years they'd spent together, he could guess at his train of thought. Old man… Is it possible? Could Lenalee really be…
"Maybe she's the Heart." A large yellow AKUMA appeared behind Lavi for a moment before being completely entangled in glowing strands. It began to writhe like a fish in a net. "Hey! Heeeyyy! I'm not gonna do anything! I'm on your side!"
Three exorcists faced the AKUMA. "And we're supposed to just take you on your word?" Kanda scoffed, Mugen held ready.
"A message from General Cross delivered by an AKUMA?" Lavi growled. For once, he and Kanda were on the same page.
"I told you, he altered me! Now let me go!" The strands drew tighter, and everyone could see where the AKUMA's outer shell had begun to burn.
(And pine for what)
"Stand down Lavi."
Everyone turned to Bookman. The disbelief was palpable.
"General Cross is the only man in the world who can alter an AKUMA. Of course, not even the Black Order knows this… But I do."
(Is not)
Kanda and Marie glanced at Tiedoll, who shrugged. "I've learnt not to question what Cross Marian is capable of. If Bookman says that he is able to alter AKUMA, then I trust in that. Besides," he gestured at the large yellow creature, where a much smaller yellow creature was now perched, "Tim obviously trusts him, so we can too." The exorcists gave the AKUMA a warning look before pulling back.
Except for Mirage.
"Mirage…" Tiedoll said warningly.
Bookman watched with interest as the girl scowled behind her scarf, before turning her glare onto the yellow creature. "Vous essayez n'importe quoi, je vais rendre votre fin insoutenable."
You try anything, I'll make your ending excruciating.
Her innocence gave one last warning squeeze before receding, and the girl leapt back onto one of the lower limbs of the mast. Tiedoll sighed, whilst the rest looked confused. Perhaps with some time spent at the Order, among happier people like Lenalee and her brother, Mirage might become less… like Kanda.
Kanda sneezed, and glared at his master. What was he thinking…
(Our sincerest laughter)
"You should be thanking me!" The AKUMA whined. "I was the one who lifted the ship to the surface when you were about to attack the AKUMA! And I kept the AKUMA away from that other ship!"
"That was you?!" Lavi ignored the comment about another ship.
"Thank me!"
"U-uh, um, thank you very much?"
(With some pain is fraught)
"An altered AKUMA? Incredible…" Mirage shivered as the creature turned its gaze onto her (and did it just smirk?). "The people in the science section will be flabbergasted."
"There's no time to waste," The AKUMA announced. "I have an important message for you!
"Cross Marian is alive. He's in Japan working his way towards Edo in order to carry out his mission."
"His mission…?" Lavi murmured.
Further away, Mahoja sat with holding Anita. "Mistress, did you hear?"
"Hmmm?" The woman hummed.
Mirage hopped down next to them and began to check Anita over. "Cross Marian is alive." She whispered haltingly. "He in Japan, Edo, has mission." Carefully the girl tilted Anita's head, checked her pulse and breathing. Her brief exposure to the will of the innocence didn't seem to have any lasting effect besides exhaustion.
She studiously ignored the tears in Anita's eyes as she whispered, "Thank God."
(Fear not)
"Then the General hasn't reached Edo yet?" Marie asked.
"He's close, but he can't continue on."
"What's in Edo?" Kanda ground out.
"The Ark is there. The big Ark. It's a factory for manufacturing AKUMA. General Cross's mission is to destroy it."
(For the future)
Complete silence.
"He has encountered greater obstacles than he expected. He's unable to go on. But when he'd heard you'd been dispatched to protect him, he sent me to give you a message."
Lavi leant back and put his hands behind his head in feigned nonchalance. "The General must know he's one of the prime candidates for having the Heart. He's being hunted by AKUMA and Noah. So he sent you to ask for help, huh?"
"No.
"I was sent to warn you! And after delivering the warning, the General instructed me to tell you to go home. You'll only slow him down." The AKUMA turned to face Tiedoll. "Although, he never mentioned anything about another General. General Cross was under the impression that his apprentice, Bookman and his apprentice, two young woman and a vampire would be the only Exorcists on the ship. He didn't say anything about you… Or her." He glared venomously over at Mirage, who had finished her check up of Anita and had wandered over to Lenalee's innocence. She glanced over and, seeing the obvious dislike, wiggled her fingers.
"What is his predicament?" Tiedoll asked.
(Weep not)
The AKUMA turned back to the general and made an OK sign with his fingers. "Cho!
"Japan is under the Earl's control."
Mirage took another step closer.
"The capital city of Edo is at its center."
She carefully reached out with one hand.
"It's a nest of level 3 AKUMA… and worse."
Her hand made contact.
"If you go there, you'll die."
(For the past)
VWOOOM
The crystal lit up like a beacon, drawing everyone's attention. The light grew into a column reaching the sky, the crystal a darker shadow that began to disintegrate, and all that could be seen was Lenalee's silhouette. And even she began to come apart.
"LENALEE!" Miranda screamed.
(Death is the veil)
Tiedoll worried for the girl he had watched grow up. But he also worried for his newest disciple, who could not be seen since she'd touched the crystal.
"The light is dimming!" Bookman watched with disbelief as the light collapsed in on itself, the very air pulsing, resolving itself into the form of Lenalee, hair burned short, clothing gone except for a band around her chest and rags flaring to either side of her waist. Her legs were covered in round, ripple-like black markings, larger on her thighs and getting smaller the further down her legs they travelled .
(Which those who live)
Her eyes weren't open.
"Lenalee!" Lavi carefully lifted her shoulders, only just resisting the urge to shake her. There was the sound of metal on wood as her hand opened and a hair-ring, embellished with a cross, rolled across the deck.
Slowly her eyes opened. "Lavi… am I…" Tears began to run down her cheeks. "Am I… still in this world? Am I?"
Lavi could barely feel the tears that ran down his own face as he held her close. "You crazy kid…"
(Call life)
Miranda sat by his side, overwhelmed and crying happy tears. Krory, leaning against the mast, cheered with the rest of the watching crew. Anita wrapped her hands around Mahoja's and squeezed, unable to verbally express her happiness with it stuck in her throat. Even Kanda, looking away with a huff, couldn't fully disguise the relief that went through him. Despite all attempts to prevent it, Lenalee had managed to worm her way into his heart (LIKE A SISTER KOMUI, A SISTER).
(They sleep)
Further away, Tiedoll supported a trembly Mirage. Her touch had been what Lenalee's innocence was waiting for. It needed proof of safety – the presence of another innocence. Lenalee was largely protected from the backlash of her own innocence reforming itself, but Mirage wasn't. Her innocence was shaking. The brief instability of Dark Boots, in those moments of reformation, had triggered a brief instability in Coup de Main. It was going to need time to recover.
Bookman watched, as he always did. "If we go to Japan… even greater suffering awaits us there. Do we continue on or turn back?"
"That's something to be discussed with everyone." Tiedoll murmured, before carefully leading Mirage towards the cabin. "The ship my students and I arrived on is not far away. We have until they meet us to make a decision."
"Let's keep going." Tiedoll and Bookman turned back to see Lenalee sitting upright, the beaded bands of Miranda's innocence healing her. "We can't turn back now. It would be a betrayal of all those who died to help us." She placed her hands on the deck and pushed, but immediately her arms buckled. My legs… They haven't recovered yet, even with the help of Miranda's innocence. It's the backlash from the release of my innocence. I can barely move them.
(And it is lifted)
Hands grasped her underarms, and Lenalee was hauled up by Lavi and a stone faced Kanda, Miranda placing her hands on her shoulders for extra support.
"I agree with Lenalee." Lavi smiled.
"As do I." Announced Krory, stumbling forward.
"We're a mess, but we can't turn our backs our duty," Lavi continued. "Onwards…"
"To Edo!" The cry was echoed by everyone, and Tiedoll and Bookman could only exchange glances.
So be it.
Mirage pushed forwards towards Lenalee. "Venez à la cabine. Je dois vous vérifier. Malgré les pouvoirs de guérison miraculeux de l'horloge, vous ne pouvez toujours pas marcher."
Tiedoll chuckled at the dumbfounded look on Lenalee, Krory and Miranda's faces, and the amused look on Lavi's. "Miss Mirage here would like to check you over. She's the closest thing we have to a doctor at the moment, and I think it's a good idea for us all to talk more about what is to be done now that we know better what is coming."
And with that, Tiedoll promptly frogmarched the young French-girl towards the cabin. It wouldn't be long till La Esmerelda arrived, and Tiedoll wanted to be completely sure as to their plan of action when it happened. Not to mention, he hadn't seen the girl deactivate her innocence at all since they'd gotten onto the ship, and with everything that was going on, she'd have to be exhausted.
He sighed. He really did manage to find another Yuu Kanda, didn't he?
(War is the Statesmans)
(Game)
(The Priests)
(Delight)
(The Lawyers)
(Jest)
(The Hired Assassins)
(Trade)
You are our Raven
Our Little Raven Doll
We are getting closer
Hi Everyone! Sorry again for the wait, but my muse died, and then, uh, Mum passed away. She's had cancer for yeas, so it wasn't a suprise, but I needed to be there for my siblings, and lots of things got put by the wayside. Cancer really is a bitch, not just for those who have it, but for the families it leaves behind. Anyway, lots more to come, and hopefully, it will come quicker! Lots of thanks to those who have followed and faved, and many, many thanks to those who have reviewed.
REVIEWS FEED ME
Couple of things: Any dialogue you recognise has been taken from the manga, so full props to KATSURA HOSHINO for being and absolutely amazing human being, and my French is done largely in Google Translate, because my own French skills aren't nearly up to the challenge. Sorry for any mistakes
See ya!
Kat