"Routine"
As they walked through the doors, Kanda looked as if he was right at home, which he probably was, and kept going deeper into the building. Angela saw right away how large the order was and did the only thing that came to mind; follow Kanda. When she looked up Angela saw countless floors, and the ground level floor she was on seemed to be a labyrinth of hallways and doors.
Several people in white lab coats and long cream colored jackets walked around the hallways, carrying on with their own conversations. Several gave Angela a strange look, and she probably guessed this was one of those places where everybody knew everybody, and she, for all purposes, was an outsider. Something they also took notice of was the little red bird that was perched comfortably on Kanda's head. Cherry never bothered to get off it seemed. Kanda suddenly stopped and turned to face Angela.
"What are you doing?" He asked irritably. Angela simply shrugged.
"Well I just got here. I have no idea where anything is or who anyone is, so I decided to just...follow you?"
"I got you here, so my job is done. I'm going to turn in the innocence and go to my room. I don't care what you do, just leave me alone and take this," he plucked Cherry from off of his head, "with you." He stalked off again. Angela was dumbfounded for a second. How could he just up and leave her to her own devices in this huge place? True he wasn't really obligated to show her around...but he could at least take her to someone who would!
Ignoring his earlier comments, Angela continued to follow the teen. Surely whomever he had to give the innocence to was nice enough to show her around? As he continued down several different hallways, Angela gave up on trying to remember the way they had taken. She would have time to work it out later, she was sure.
Once again, Kanda stopped, but instead of snapping at her again, he opened a door and went in. Angela wasn't sure what to do so she merely stood awkwardly in the doorway. Angela was used to being a part of that community where everybody knew everybody, and hadn't felt the awkwardness of having to introduce herself since her first day of school back in pre-k. Needless to say, she wasn't exactly sure how to react in this unfamiliar environment when the only person she was associated with wanted nothing more to do with her.
Peering into the office, she saw that it was littered with papers and marveled at the fact nobody was drowning in there. There was a pile in particular that looked like it had collapsed on the chair behind the desk. Angela could swear she heard moaning...
Kanda muttered something about idiot chiefs and made his way over to the desk. Plunging his hand into the pile, Angela watched with a mixed expression of concern and...A bit of amusement as he pulled someone out of the pile. It was a tall man that seemed to be in about his late twenties. He had long dark hair that curled at the ends, seemingly of its own accord.
He wore wire framed glasses, a light blue turtle neck and a white coat, similar to the ones she saw some of the people downstairs wearing. Atop his head was a white beret and he also had on white pants. On the breast of his shirt, Angela noticed the rose cross symbol.
"Kanda!" The man gasped. "I've never been happier to see you! You saved me from suffocating in there! I knew you cared after all! ~" Kanda's response was dropping him unceremoniously onto his butt and walking back to the couch in the room and sitting on it. "Or maybe not..." the man continued. He took notice of Angela, who was part way in the door, not sure whether to stay or go after Kanda saved him from the mess of this office.
"Hi..?" Angela said uncertainly.
"Hello," the man said, his previously hyper mood now replaced with a more calm and collected one. 'Whoa,' Angela thought 'major mood swing.'
"I take it you're the new accommodator General Tiedoll and Kanda mentioned on their previous calls?"
"Yes, that would be me," Angela said while nodding.
"I see," he continued. "Well don't be a stranger! Come, sit, and relax! Kanda briefly mentioned a bit about the encounter with the akuma you two had. But other than that I hope your trip was pleasant!" Once again the animated attitude was in place and Angela had no clue as to what to make of his behavior. The trip...
"It could have been worse I guess," Angela replied. It wasn't entirely a lie...they could be dead, right?
"That's the spirit! Keep up that kind of attitude and you'll do just fine here!" Komui beamed. He then turned to Kanda and asked for details about his mission. As Kanda filled him in on the details and handed over the innocence to give to 'Hevlaska', whoever that is, Angela looked around the cluttered office, not really listening to their conversation. There were piles of papers everywhere; it was as if it was an ocean of clutter.
'And my mom thought my room was messy? If she saw this she'd put this guy under room arrest until it was spotless.' Then Angela's mind drifted once again back to her home. She wondered how her mom and Nikki were doing, if the house was still standing after Angela nearly made it collapse. 'I probably should have at least apologized for that before I left...'
"Angela!" Angela snapped to attention as she heard her name being called. When she looked next to her she saw that Kanda had already left and she was now alone with the man.
"Oh sorry, I spaced out a bit," Angela said, "What were you saying Mr. ...uh..."
"Oh how rude of me not to introduce myself! I'm the head of the Black Order's European branch, Komui. I was just asking you to follow me for a bit. You'll get a tour of the order soon, but first I'd like to examine you and your innocence, just to make sure you're in top shape and confirm a few things. Now if you would," He gestured towards the door as he came around his desk and weaved his way through the mess with ease.
'Somehow I feel that this room hasn't been clean since he started working here.' Angela thought as she followed him out of the office. As they navigated the building, Angela was uncharacteristically silent as she tried to memorize the layout of the order based on what she had seen so far. There were several people who greeted her guide, as he introduced Angela to them. Most of the people she met were of the science division (she at least retained what uniforms were for who) asking for Komui to do his part of the work and fill out the piles of papers that had very nearly drowned him earlier.
She tried mostly however, to remember where the cafeteria was. She was starving, and upon further thought, she hadn't had a decent meal in days. Finally their 'little' (what part of the order could be considered 'little'?) took a pause at a room that had too much of a resemblance to an operating room for Angela's liking.
"Take a seat," Komui said ominously.
Angela had never liked the doctor's office. Or rather, she had never like needles. Those were for all purposes the only thing that Angela was scared shitless of. It wasn't so much that it hurt, that wasn't so bad, it was more along the lines of the feeling of something being inside you that isn't supposed to be there. The thought of something sharp drawing blood, or putting whatever into her body just made her shiver.
Okay, so it did hurt a little.
However she didn't mind the dentist so much. Angela took great pride in her oral hygiene so she never worried about cavities and the like; hence, she had no need to worry about needles or drills going into her mouth.
Now she was terrified of them.
But what Komui pulled out went beyond all fathomable forms of fearsome, intimidating, and lethal.
"What in god's name is that for!?" Angela shrieked. Not only had he pulled out an array of over sized drills for god knows what, but several different types of needles full of who-knows-what. The scientist had on this strange sadistic smile and tilted his head to the side in a creepy manner as he said,
"Nothing really. Just some routine tests..." What exactly was his definition of routine?
"No way. No way. No how. No why. You are not getting with three miles of me with that thing." Angela said. Just the sight of a needle was enough to make her heart race. It was starting to see more like an irrational fear to her, but at the moment the only thing she could think of was how...insane this man, this place, this whole situation seemed to be.
"Relax; this isn't for you," he said, "However I will need to do a couple of...tests to see what kind of condition you're in."
"Then what the hell is all of that for?" Angela asked suspiciously, her eyes not once leaving the over sized drill in the man's hands.
"Kanda informed me that Cherry was a parasitic type exorcist," Komui said passively. Realization dawned on Angela and he looked down at the small creature cradled in her hands. Cherry looked at Angela innocently, as though for once she didn't understand the situation. Angela looked from Cherry, to the array of tools on the table, and to the slowly advancing man before resting her gaze on Cherry. A pang of guilt hit her as she turned over her companion to the mad man.
"...You won't hurt her right?" Angela asked. She truly felt as though she was betraying Cherry at that moment. She knew that she would hate if someone she trusted left her in a situation that they knew would probably be traumatizing.
"She'll be just fine. Now if you would step outside for a minute..." He put a small needle into Cherry's wing and the bird seemed to relax and became immobile in his hands. Angela did as she was told and stepped outside. No sooner had she closed the door the shriek of a drill could be heard, followed immediately by Cherry squawking and chirping madly.
"Come on in~" Angela opened the door and Cherry looked for all the world to be dead as she lie on the table on her back, wings spread out, and completely still.
"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME DID YOU DO!?" Angela cried as she rushed to the sparrow. She looked for any signs of life frantically and sure enough the bird was alive, just unconscious.
"Routine, like I said," he shrugged noncommittally.
"Routine my ass..." Angela muttered. She turned to see Komui (to her great relief) putting away the tools.
"Just one more stop before I take you to your room. Nothing to bad I promise!" Komui said in defense to Angela's accusatory glare. Since she didn't have much choice Angela complied, clutching Cherry protectively to her chest all the while.
They came to a circular area that was lined with doors leading to rooms containing things unknown. However what really astounded Angela was just how large the order was. Leaning over the edge of the railing she could not see the bottom and it seemed to be an empty abyss down below her. Above was pretty much the same story, as she was unable to gauge just how many other floors were above her.
Komui made his way to a floating pad and gestured for her to come on as well. She couldn't see any cables or the like and wondered just what was propelling them up and down. They descended down the many floors of the order, and Angela gave up on trying to count them. She was going to dread having to learn her way around here. Finally they came to a stop in a pitch black room. She could hardly see around her until a bright white light rose up from beneath the elevator. Turning around she was that it wasn't a light, but something else all together. The being before her was covered in pure white tendrils and the only thing that it had that it would suggest some relation to human beings was its nose, mouth, and chin. She couldn't see its eyes, but it seemed glorious none the less.
Angela started in awe until one of the tendrils lifted her up and took cherry into another one. Suddenly Angela had an uncomfortable probing feeling, as though there was something inside of her that shouldn't be. Suddenly needles weren't as scary as they once were. She could feel her innocence reacting to whatever the creature was doing to her, but could not bring herself to retaliate. As uncomfortable she felt, she didn't feel threatened by the process.
Letting it go on Angela became aware of the fact that the creature was counting.
"47 percent...56 percent...68 percent...77 percent. It seems her current limit is 77 percent." a distinctly female voice said. She lowered Angela back down onto the platform along with Cherry, whose synchronization rate was deemed to be at 82%."
"You..." Angela growled as she turned to Komui, "You could have warned me that I was about to be...probed or something by whatever the hell that is! It was weird, and creepy, and really uncomfortable!" Angela snapped.
"I apologize; I did not mean to frighten you in any way. I merely needed to gauge your synchronization with your innocence." A feeling of guilt descended upon Angela. She realized that she had just called the being an 'it' pretty much called it creepy and gross which wasn't the case.
"I'm so sorry!" Angela blurted, "I didn't mean it like that! I was just caught off guard was all. I mean, sure it did feel kind of weird, but it didn't exactly feel wrong. Like, I didn't feel threatened, just exposed or something..." Komui chuckled lightly as did the being.
"I'm sorry for the lack of warning, but an involuntary test from Hevlaska is necessary to test your sync rate with your innocence."
"Worry not; I was not insulted by what you said. Many have that kind of reaction. However your assessment of the process leads me to further believe what I saw. Your heart is kind and accepting. You open yourself to all those around you and trust those close to you. You are a reader of hearts and should use that to help discern between friend and foes. Use that skill and trust your heart, even if no one else does for it will help pave the way to a brighter future for all."
"...Beg pardon?" Angela asked as she tried to absorb Hevlaska's words. She had always thought she was really good at reading people, but reader of hearts? That's a new way of saying it. Hevlaska then seemed to direct her gaze to Cherry, who was once again in Angela's hands.
"A brilliant phoenix, light the way for those walking the path of deception and further guide your reader of hearts so together you may see through all forms of deceit and be a guiding light on this dark path. And just as you rise from the ashes, raise up you comrades in times of ruin."
Angela looked at Cherry and the little bird looked at Angela as well. Angela smiled brightly at Cherry.
"So looks like we were a dynamic duo from the get-go, huh?" Cherry just stared at her, before letting out a small chirp. Angela turned to face Komui as he began applauding Angela and Cherry.
"That sounds rather promising! Hevlaska's predictions are normally accurate and yours should prove to be rather helpful to not only each other but the order as a whole." Angela didn't really know what to say so she merely thanked Hevlaska (for what she wasn't sure, it just seemed appropriate for some reason). The lift ascended once more to a more brightly lit area and Angela found herself following Komui once more.
This time they stopped at a door marked '695' and handed Angela a key. Angela unlocked the door and looked inside. The room was a decent size, about the same size of her previous room if she wasn't mistaken. On the left wall there was a door that led to her closet and a dresser right next to it settled in the far left corner of the room. Next to the closet door there was her bathroom door. On the back wall in the middle there was a window that flooded the room with the light of the full moon. On the right wall a full sized bed sat with a bed side table to the left of it, taking up the far right corner of the room.
"I hope you'll be comfortable here. If there's anything you need, just let me know. Welcome to the order, Angela, Cherry." Angela nodded to Komui.
"Thank you very much for the tour. But uh...I do have a small issue..."
"What is it?" He asked.
"I really want to take a shower but...uh...I kind of lost all of my stuff when the train tipped..." Both she and Komui sat in contemplative silence for a while, unsure of how to deal with this situation. Suddenly Komui's head perked up and he dashed from the room. Angela sat alone with Cherry, wondering where Komui ran off to all of a sudden. A few minutes later he returned, carrying with him a black coat and skirt with silver trimmings. On the left breast was that familiar rose cross insignia of the black order.
"This is a uniform that was made for my younger sister," Komui said. 'He has a younger sister? Oh god I that she at least is sane.' "However they made it too big and is didn't fit her properly. She's away on a mission right now, but since it's too big anyway I'm sure she won't mind!" Angela took the clothes, wondering if this was really okay, but not really having much of a choice.
"Thanks again, Komui." He nodded, giving her a soft kind smile before leaving her to do what she wanted. All she wanted was a nice hot bath.
Twenty minutes later, both she and Cherry were feeling refreshed and clean as Angela flopped onto the bed. To her own great relief, the bathroom was stocked with soap, shampoo and the like; it even had a new toothbrush. 'I guess they provide the essentials.' Angela thought. Komui's sister's uniform fit her perfectly, and although it wasn't exactly sleeping ware, it was better than what she had on before. It was also rather comfortable. Although beat, Angela took the time to take the pillowcase off of her pillow and fold it into a makeshift 'nest' for Cherry to sleep in. Although the bird normally slept outside in a nest of her own making, Angela knew that the sleeping sparrow was still too drugged to fly properly and make her own nest.
Placing the nest and Cherry on the bedside table, Angela's head dropped back onto her pillow and she promptly fell asleep.
Hey there darlings! I know it's been FOREVER since I last posted a chapter (At least i got this month's out right? God I hate school -.-) but for those of you who are loyal followers to my story, I thank you for your time and interest in my story! It makes my day any time I get a notification that I got a new review or follower. It makes me feel like writing even more (if only there were more hours in the day...) But i hope you all enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one! Oh one last thing! If you guys really do like my works, I entered a contest on a website called 'Figment' and I would really appreciate it if you guys voted for it! (It says heart this story. Heart=vote feeling the love yall). For those of you on that website my Name is Kjirstin Noelle (Don't ask xD) and the story I want you guys to 'Heart' is called 'Who? Me?' it's a rather funny story about my character's alibi for the death of a guy. I would appreciate the love and support if you could give it, but if you prefer just gravity, I won't fault you.
Love you all kiddies! Until next time,
Kj~
