Camp NaNoWriMo is so motivating.


Chapter 7

It was a cold morning with the sea spray blown in from the harbor when the group of travelers arrived at the docks. After much discussion and some quarrelling, it was decided that Kanda, Lenalee, and Krory would board the ship, despite protests from some of the other exorcists. Protests which Kanda had quickly silenced by stating that the others would be needed to help headquarters get back on its feet and there was no guarantee the Noah wouldn't attack again. Naturally, they were accompanied by Kuroh and Neko and by the surviving members of Scepter 4. Now, as the carriage pulled away, they stood and looked out over the harbor.

Kuroh shot an uneasy glance at the one unexpected member of their group and wondered if the boy was too stubborn for his own good.

Allen had woken up shortly before they were due to leave and had insisted upon coming, despite the grievous wound he had taken which seemed to have healed at an alarming rate. Komui, Bookman, and Kanda had been against his coming, the former two worried for his health, the latter out of annoyance. Yet that hadn't stopped him and so here they all stood, ready to disembark.

The vessel they were to go by was a merchant, a brig. Two masts towered over the deck, their sails neatly furled, the web of the rigging leaving an intricate network of shadows on the weather deck. At the stern and beneath the doused lanterns, was a plaque bearing the name Halifax. Sailors were busy loading on the last of the cargo for trade with China, lowering the crates into the hold. Overseeing this all was the captain, a man with weathered features and a long coat buttoned up the front and a tricorn. He met the travelers at the base of the gangplank.

"We're grateful for your assistance," Lenalee said once they'd all introduced themselves and the captain had introduced himself as Captain Staunton.

The captain nodded. "This isn't the first time I've had to ferry any of you lot. First time passing so close to Japan though. Dangerous waters around there."

"So we've heard," Kanda muttered. "I wouldn't expect a merchant to dare make the attempt."

Staunton frowned at his blunt tone. "I'll get you there."

With that, they were given cramped quarters near the stern and it seemed to take forever for the cargo to be all lashed down, for the last-minute preparations to be made to the captain's satisfaction. Just when Kanda was about to inquire after how much longer it would take, the gangplank was taken away, orders were being shouted, lines were cut loose, and the courses were let out and filling with wind. And then they were off and while it seemed to have taken forever for them to be under way, it seemed like no time at all before the land receded behind them.

"You're worried about them," Lenalee said once the shoreline was a dark smudge on the horizon as she came to stand by Allen at the stern rail.

Allen didn't say anything, his gaze fixed on the horizon.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." She put all of her confidence into those words, partly to convince herself. After all, the Noah had attacked them in their stronghold once and only by some miracle had the Black Order kept them off, though not without casualties.

After a hesitation, Allen looked back at her and smiled the smile she realized with a start that she hadn't seen in so long. It reminded her of when he had first come to the Order, timid and uncertain, a stranger who hadn't yet had his heart hardened against the threat that was the Noah.

"Yeah," he said. "There's really nothing to worry about." But despite his words and his smile, Lenalee wondered if he truly believed it.

She left him there to be alone with his thoughts and shot a glance at the quarterdeck where the captain's second mate was at the wheel. They were sailing smoothly over the water at a beam reach, the wind sweeping across the deck and tousling her long hair. She knew they had a long voyage ahead of them and it would be some time before they returned, before she would see her brother again. But their task was one of utmost importance and so the journey had to be made.

Uneasy thoughts and doubts slowly began to fade as days turned to weeks and then to months as they sailed and more than one of their group occasionally wished the Rosen Gate's remote hadn't burnt out so easily. It could have saved them from the sheer boredom of the voyage, each day blending into the next until it was far too easy to lose track of time and they would have to shock themselves back into reality by taking a glance at the ship's calendar.

Twice they sailed through stormy waters. The first, it rained for three days straight. The second, for nearly a whole week, bitter cold winds lashing the sails and waves sending salty froth over the decks. Two sailors died, one swept overboard, the other struck in the head and killed cleanly. It was an exhausting ordeal but one which finally passed and gave way to calm waters and sunlight.

To occupy themselves, Allen, Lenalee, Krory, and Kuroh volunteered to take part in some of the ship's everyday activities, learning the ropes as it were.

Even Neko stopped bouncing around after awhile and soon took to sleeping wherever and whenever.

When Japan's dark shores finally came into view, they were all called up on deck and the exorcists could feel the palpable darkness radiating from the island. As it drew nearer, a boat was lowered and they were to go ashore with the captain's promise that he would continue patrolling the nearby waters for a week to wait for their return.

The shore was barren and deserted and it immediately set Lenalee on high alert. She kept scanning the skies, looking for the dark shapes of akuma flying by overhead but she didn't see any.

"Where are they all?" Kuroh said as the tension became unbearable.

As if on cue, something shifted in the bleary landscape and a creature came flying at them. Immediately, weapons were drawn and activated as a gray, long-limbed akuma swatted at them with its disproportional paws. Kanda's sword nicked it in the side, sending it into a clumsy sprawl upon the ground. It was then that Lenalee noticed the gashes in its side and how one of its feet was twisted severely and useless.

The akuma groaned and muttered, its teeth too long to fit in its mouth as it turned back to the group. "Kill you, kill you, kill you," it rambled and lunged at them again. "Kill you kill you kill you KILL YOU."

Lenalee darted to the side and kicked at it and it howled and turned its dead stare on her. "Kill you kill you ki –"

"Shut up," Kanda said, his sword thrust straight through the akuma's middle. The creature writhed and tried to get him with its claws and then howled when he twisted the blade cruelly in its flesh, widening the wound. Its limbs curling, it convulsed several times and fell still. Kanda removed his sword in disgust.

"Something happened here," Allen said. "Did you see the way that akuma was injured? There might be other exorcists around."

Having watched Kanda quickly dispatch the injured akuma, Munakata eyed its disintegrating corpse. "Whoever it was won't last long with the numbers of akuma in this country. And neither will we. We need to keep moving."

The rest agreed but Allen kept glancing back at where the akuma had died, its body already disintegrated. A sense of unease fell over the group.

Besides that one lone akuma, it seemed this part of Japan was deserted. The more they walked, the more it became apparent. But this near to the Rosen Gate's location, how could that be?

When they finally came upon it amid the ruins, they stopped and stared and Kuroh clenched his teeth while Neko cried out.

"You actually came," the Colorless King said. He was lounging against the Gate and looking very much like he'd been waiting for them to arrive. Kanda drew Mugen from its sheathe, eyes narrowed.

"What happened?" Allen asked, wanting to learn the answer before any fighting broke out.

"Hmm?" He shrugged. "It all happened pretty fast. Some maniac with a gun. Who'd have thought?"

Allen's eyes widened and then they narrowed in suspicion. "Wait a minute. You don't mean…?" He couldn't finish, the mere thought enough to make him ill.

"How should I know? I hid in an abandoned building."

"Tch." Kanda pointed his sword at the so-called king. "You're a coward. This is the being you're all so afraid of?" he said to Kuroh.

"Actually, I really don't blame him," Allen said and Lenalee realized it was best to steer the conversation away from certain things.

Shiro's face broke into a grin when he noted the fury in Kanda's expression. "Still not over the fact that I killed your friend, huh?"

Kanda muttered something under his breath, his eye twitching.

"I'm sorry. I didn't quite catch that."

"He wasn't my friend," Kanda said and charged, activating Mugen as he did so, ignoring the shocked cries of the others. "In fact, I hated his guts!" The blade came down but suddenly Shiro wasn't there anymore.

"That was pathetic," Shiro said from somewhere above and Kanda gritted his teeth, drawing his blade back for another attack. "I'm up here."

Kanda swiped his sword through the air, unleashing a horde of netherworld creatures. Somewhere behind him, the others were yelling and it was really annoying.

"Shut up while I'm fighting!" he shouted back at them and then took another swipe at Shiro but the evil king kept dodging, floating around like this was some game. It only served to make him angrier.

"You're actually pretty good at that," the Colorless King said as he floated higher above Kanda's head, forcing the exorcist to look up at him. "Must have taken years of practice. But a lot of it's muscle memory, isn't it?" A thoughtful look crossed his face. "I can deal with that."

The yelling didn't stop and Kanda thought that Kuroh was shouting something about eyes. Whatever nonsense it was, he wished they'd all shut up about it.

Kanda went in for another attack but this time, instead of continuing to float out of his reach, the Colorless King darted in and Kanda realized with a start that there was something wrong about his eyes. Something was moving inside them, something that made his gut clench even as he stared, transfixed, and the shouting dimmed down to a distant roaring.


"Kanda!" Allen cried and lunged, trying to get between the exorcist and the Colorless King with his anti-akuma arm extended.

Shiro fell back as the talons nicked him.

Mugen clattered to the ground and then Kanda was screaming, the heels of his hands digging into his eyes. It was a horrible sound.

"Kanda?" Allen said, stunned.

"Get back," Kuroh said and then turned to Kanda who was now on his knees on the ground. "Fight him, Kanda." Though he was losing hope of the exorcist succeeding, despite the strength he'd shown in battle.

Eventually, his struggles ceased. Kanda was left panting, eyes still closed and Allen's gaze was darting between him and Kuroh, uncertain.

Kanda's hand wrapped around the hilt of his sword and brought it in a sweeping arc in front of him and Allen jumped back just in time. He could feel the breeze of the blade's passing. Then Kanda was getting to his feet but it was no longer Kanda. There was a wild look in his eyes and a flicker of amusement that he had never before seen on the stern exorcist's face.

"I rather like this one," the Colorless King said. "Good reflexes. And strong. A lot stronger than that Silver King, although his abilities are quite handy. But for now, I think this body will do nicely."

Allen struck out at the Colorless King with talons splayed but with Kanda's agility, the attack was easily dodged.

The Colorless King laughed, a strange sound coming from Kanda's mouth. "I'd have thought you knew better than that! Doesn't Kanda usually beat you during sparring sessions?"

Allen set his jaw. "Give him back."

"Why? You don't like him."

"Give him back."

"When you have your mind set on something, you really can't think of anything else, can you?" The Colorless King walked over to where Shiro was, still dazed, and rifled through the boy's jacket, coming out with something that looked an awful lot like the remote the Noah had used to control the portal at Black Order headquarters. "I'll tell you what," he said, tapping a button on its surface. "Why don't we play a game? I'm tired of this time period. I miss TV, I miss cell phones. I'm going back home. Feel free to follow me." He fiddled with the remote some more and the portal was activated. He stepped toward it. A wicked grin spread across his face as he gripped Mugen in one hand. "And, you know. Catch me if you can."

Behind Allen, Fushimi uncharacteristically lunged forward and Hidaka yelled something and then the Colorless King stepped through and disappeared and on the other side of the portal – "Ready your swords," rain lashing against the roof, screams, the sound of clashing swords.

"Damn it," Munakata said, torn. "Alright, men, we go through. We can't let the Seventh King get away."

A resounding "Yes, sir," was the reply and the exorcists were all in agreement. Even if the Colorless King hadn't been working with the Noah, his existence posed enough of a threat by itself.

Kuroh went to Shiro's side and had to put out an arm to stop Neko from glomping him. "Shiro? Are you alright?"

Shiro was still dazed, but his eyes focused on Kuroh and realization struck. "I failed, didn't I?"

"No one could have known he was still alive."

"But I thought it would work. Mikoto…he died to avenge Totsuka's death but nothing came of it."

Kuroh bit his lip. "We have another chance to take him down," he said and hoisted Shiro to his feet. "We're going through the portal back to our time and we're going to make sure we get it right this time."

"Portal?"

Kuroh smiled reassuringly. "I suppose your memories are a little fuzzy. That's okay." It was best not to remember, anyway, he thought. Shiro had already murdered one person under the influence of the Colorless King. He didn't really need to know about the second.

Scepter 4 were the first through the portal the Colorless King had so graciously left open for them and then Allen went through, itching for another chance at the king and then Lenalee and Krory. Without looking back, Kuroh, Shiro, and Neko followed.

They came out disoriented, dizzy, blinking, in a crater dug into the earth amid splinters of wood in a building that no longer had a roof and sported a large hole in the wall. Besides the new arrivals, the place was deserted.

"What a dirty trick," Kamo said.

"He's given himself a head start," Awashima said.

"It won't matter either way," Munakata said. "We'll catch him."

Outside, there was the sound of a car door and then footsteps and then Benzai peered inside and blanched. "Captain! You're back!"

"I take it we've been gone awhile?"

"Only four days, sir. We've been managing alright, but it sure is good to see you."

Munakata nodded. "We'll be heading back to headquarters immediately. I need you to get medical help as I've got injured with me. Awashima, gather all senior personnel. Our first and foremost task now is to find and capture the Colorless King."

"The Colorless King?" Benzai sputtered. "You mean he's back?"

"Yes. Awashima will fill you all in later. And on our way to headquarters, I'll need you to fill me in on just what has happened these past four days and where in the world that blasted portal has gone."


"I don't understand," Lenalee said. "The Noah just left?" That made it twice now that they had retreated during a fight in which they could have won. It didn't make any sense. The Noah were powerful and very very hard to kill. What had prompted them to abandon the battle and the device which they surely had come for which was even now sitting in a large space in the west wing of Scepter 4?

"They were called back," Benzai said. "Their leader seemed very angry at them. I don't think they were attacking us on his orders."

"The Millennium Earl was here?" Allen blanched. It was a wonder anyone had been left alive.

"Who?" Benzai looked at him, at a loss.

"The Millennium Earl. He's the leader of the Noah. But why would they be doing anything against his orders? I still don't know much about them, but I know enough to know that's weird." Allen pondered that for a second. "Did you get a good look at him?"

"Well…no. All we heard was this voice ordering the Noah to 'come back home' or something and when they didn't seem to want to, he said something really rude and they finally did."

"…huh."

"Anyway, after the attack, we realized that everyone who was inside the building was either dead or had disappeared. I was…ah, outside at the time." He seemed a little embarrassed about it and then plowed ahead with his story. "We searched the grounds but could find no sign of the captain or anyone else so we had to assume it had something to do with the portal which was powered down when we got to it. The swordsman who'd come through it initially was also gone." Kuroh winced, now that he knew precisely who that swordsman had been.

"Akiyama was put in charge and we decided to move the portal to Scepter 4 where our scientists could study it and try to figure out how it works. We've managed to make some progress, actually."

"Can you control where and when it leads to?" Allen asked.

"Ah…about that, er…well, no."

Allen nodded, having not expected a better answer.

"We'll get it stabilized," Fujioka said with newfound confidence. "Perhaps then everyone will stop bouncing around time all willy-nilly."

"Good," Munakata said. "Then I'll leave you in charge of the scientists. Maybe we can get something good out of this, after all."

"Um, Captain," Allen said hesitantly. "Do you really think it's wise to experiment with this thing? Or to keep it here for that matter. The Noah may have been recalled but that doesn't mean the Earl won't ever change his mind about it. I would think it's better off destroyed."

Munakata paused for several seconds, scrutinizing the boy. "You're right. But with such dangerous enemies at our door, we can hardly get rid of the one thing that might give us a fighting chance."

Allen didn't seem too sure of that but he didn't say anything.


Days were spent studying the Rosen Gate and patrolling for the Colorless King, but they never found him. Neither did they see any sign of the Noah or their akuma. The exorcists stayed in the dormitories of Scepter 4 and, in preparation for the fight they knew they would see eventually, they sparred in the gymnasium, much to the fascination of the observing Blue Clansman who had never seen such strange weapons before.

Eventually, Munakata received word from Fujioka that the Rosen Gate was stable and he called the exorcists and the Silver clansmen to the Gate Chamber as some had taken to calling it.

Fujioka had hooked the Gate up to several sensors and cords snaked across the ground which was covered in a carpeting of papers, readings scribbled on them in Fujioka's messy scrawl. The symbols that covered the Gate was drawn on a whiteboard but there were more question marks next to them than actual translations.

"I managed to rig up a remote to control it," he said during his long-winded explanation that had been hard to follow, especially for the exorcists as he kept forgetting and slipping into Japanese. The remote was a big, clunky thing on the desk with several buttons, all of them labeled.

"And we'll be able to go wherever or whenever we choose this time?" Munakata said.

"Precisely. We've already tested it out and managed to pick up some groceries without actually going out the door." So that explained the sacks of chips and soda in the corner.

"Good job." Munakata shot a glance at Allen. "When you've decided to return home, no more long sea voyages."

Allen nodded. "We won't leave without Kanda, though."

"I know. It won't be an easy task separating him from the Colorless King, though."

"I know." Allen hesitated, glancing at Lenalee and Krory and something passed between the three of them before he again faced the Blue King. "We'd like to ask a favor, though. We want to go through the Rosen Gate to the Black Order of this year."

Munakata raised an eyebrow. "Thinking you might get some more help?"

"Not…not exactly. We just have things that we need to figure out."

The Blue King seemed to mull it over and then nodded. "Alright. Fujioka, power it up."

"Yes, sir." Fujioka seemed quite pleased with the whole thing and went to work and seconds later, the Gate thrummed and the familiar knot of blue energy came into being. "I can't leave it open indefinitely, though."

"That's fine. Shut it down and reopen it in five hours," Allen said.

"Right." Fujioka made some adjustments on the remote, settling the other end of the portal at the right place. "It's all set."

"Thanks." Allen paused in front of the portal, uncertain, but with his allies at his side, he took a deep breath and walked forward.