Author's Note: APOLOGIES! I got laid off from work back in July and getting a job took priorty over everything. But I found work again and now all is right with my world. Work training is hectic and tiring... Keeping up with the good news, I updated this fic to have its own cover art. You can see the whole thing at my Tumblr page here- post/53645953942/this-heres-the-cover-art-to-my-la vi-and-the

Lavi and the Beanstalk

Ch. 7 "Searching for Something More"

Lavi just about had a heart attack when he stepped outside that morning.

"Wha-what was tha', gramps?" He finally managed to say.

"I said, how are you feeling this morning?" The elderly Bookman replied as he stood amongt a small pile of axes, hooks, and sickels.

"O-oh. Fine. Just fine." He lied. Of course Bookman would choose to chop down the beanstalk the same day Lavi decided to climb it again. Now Lavi needed to figure out how to stop him. "Hey there, gramps. Say, umm, why didn't you wake me up earlier? I would've helped." And by help, Lavi really meant throw everything remotly sharp down the well.

"I Thought you could use the extra sleep is all. Besides, we won't be doing anything with these old pig sticks yet." Bookman explained.

"REALLY?!" Lavi couldn't do anything to hide his excitement. He now knew that he still had a chance to try and see that muscian-girl again! Bookman hadn't fully noticed Lavi's sudden mood change. Lavi looked to his grandfather and noticed a very worrisome expression on his face. Lavi quickly went wide eyed. Was his tough-as-nails grandpa' looking all anguished and depressed? "Hey. Gramps? You alright?"

Bookman sighed heavily before answering.

"You know its just that, ahh. A long time ago your father went through something similar to what you're doing right now. And I remember it so well. The restlessness. That faraway look. And he was so very, very quiet." Bookman paused to collect himself. Lavi kept very quiet and listened carefully to what his grandfather was about so say. The subject of Lavi's dad was a touchey one for the both of them.

"He was always so adventures and easily excitable. You're very much like him in that regar. And then one day he left without so much as a word or a letter." It was at this point that Bookman's voice began to break. Lavi looked at his grandfather slightly horrified. He never knew that the old man could fall apart like this let alone think it was even possible. "i knew he wanted to go but without even telling me..."

"Gramps, I'm not going anywhere." Lavi's voice was quiet but firm. Bookman's head continued to hang low. "I SWEAR I'M NOT!"

"Then tell me what it is that's going through your mind." Bookman asked.

"I don't know exactly. I mean, I can't explain it but something's just come up that's made me start questioning my, my, well, my priorities." Lavi continued as he carefully tip-toed around the truth. "I'm so sorry, Gramps. I never meant to scare you or anything."

"I know, I know." Bookman gave Lavi and a reasurring pat on the back. "But answer me this child. If you aren't sure of your 'priorities' then how can you be so certain that you won't be leaving this farm?"

"I-I can't explain it right now. But that much I'm certain of." Lavi's explaination was pathetic. Here was his grandfather, the man who raised him since his father's passing, beaten down and fearful of losing Lavi too. He should've just told Bookman the truth. It certainly would've made things easier on poor Bookman but at the same time Lavi feared he would also lose any chance he had of climbing the beanstalk and seeing the silver haired girl again.

"And when can you be absolutely certain?" Bookman asked.

"Tonight." Lavi said definitively.

"Alright then." Bookman gave Lavi a final and very gentle pat on the back before walking away.

"Do ya need help with anything else?" Lavi called out to his grandfather. He was feeling desparate to somehow make it all up to him.

"No. No. I figure that we could both use this time to ourselves." Bookman explained. "I'll be going to further discuss the matter of our beanstalk with Komui and Prof. Tiedoll And you'll wait for me until then?"

"Yeah. Count on it, Gramps." Lavi felt like his heart was going to be wrenched in two by his guilty conscience. "When you get back I'll tell you everything. I swear I will!" he called out to his grandfather. Bookman gave Lavi a warm smile before disappearing behind the hill.

Lavi then walked over to the barn where he had hidden his impromtu climbing gear. Just before entering the barn, Lavi purposefully slammed his forehead into the barn door. He was well aware of Bookman's growing concern over the past few days but he never would've imagined that the iron will of Bookman would actually crumble like that. All this time Lavi had only been concerned with meeting the silvery girl again. He had never once stopped to think about what might be happening to his grandfather. Hence the head-smack into the door earlier. Lavi felt like he had deserved at least that.

He picked up his climbing gear and strode out to the beanstalk. Still he didn't have a plan on how he was going to save the girl but he knew he had to at least try. And with that, Lavi took to climbing the beanstalk once again.

Climbing up the beanstalk wasn't nearly the same obstacle it was last time. Granted he was still winded and relied on that miraculous second wind to carry him up to the bleached-white garden. His surroundings were just as breathtaking as they were before but Lavi didn't have time to sight-see. He was a man on a mission.

Lavi bounded for the mouse hole. He could vividly recall the path towards the lounge where he and the girl first meet. When he arrived at the lounge, Lavi was shocked to find that the girl and her silver egg were all but gone.

"What th' hell, man?!" Lavi cried out. He dreaded the thought of searching what was literally a giant mansion. Sighing heavily he saw no other choice.

He turned around to leave the room when, out of the corner of his eye, a shadow skidded along the wall. Lavi jumped in surprise. There shouldn't be anything else beside him in the room, he thought. So what was it? A bug, a bird, a moth? He was suppossed to be alone in here. Lavi started a second search of the room. That was when the shadow casted over him. Lavi looked up just in time to see part of a dark figure fly high above him.

It was too high up for Lavi to see any discerning details. Lavi had no way of knowing what it was. He only knew that this mysterious, flying figure was solid. Very solid. Lavi gulped at the air. He started to feel like a rabbit that was being courted by a hawk. Now was probably a good time for him to leave.

Lavi turned back 'round to the mouse hole again. This time there wasn't any flying shadows to stop. But there was a tall figure who blocked the path. Lavi looked up to see a pale face with extremely sharp features, and even sharper teeth, staring down at him. All the color drained from Lavi's face. This guy had just myseriously appearred out of nowhere, like a damn ghost, and was now standing before the young redhead like the most fearsome of gargoyles.

When Lavi tried to back away from the mystery man, his arms whipped out from under his cloak and snatched Lavi. His clawed hands were like iron vices around Lavi's arms. The pain stung Lavi as the man's nails dug into his skin. The man seemed to relish this as he lifted Lavi into the air. His nails sinking further in under Lavi's full weight.

"Welcome to the Master's domain, Little Rat." The man's voice was calm and steady despite barely sounding human. "You've been trouncing around inside these walls too many times. And the punishment for defiling his domain is death,"

The man then pulled Lavi in. He used one arm to pin Lavi against his chest. While the other pulled Lavi's hair, cocking his head off to the side. The man's lips curled back as his eyes narrowed. Focusing solely on Lavi's neck he bared his fangs. Lavi screamed in terror. He knew what was coming next. And no amount of kicking, screaming, or pushing helped Lavi to free himself.

"NOOOO!"

A golden light flashed before Lavi's eyes. The mysterious man was gone. The mouse hole was gone too.

"..ey..."

He didn't quite recognize his surroundings anymore. And it didn't feel like he was standing on solid ground either.

"Snap out of it!"

Lavi blinked his eyes a few times. He looked down at his feet to see them dangling in mid-air. No wonder he was so disoriented. Realzing where he was, Lavi let out another terror-filled scream.

"Would you quit that already?!"

The traumatized redhead looked up to see that he was being carried in the beak of a gigantic fat, golden bird. Lavi instantly began to struggled but the voice rang out again:

"KNOCK IT OFF!"

Lavi froze. The voice sounded really, really pissed. He turned his head 'round and looked past the golden bird. That was when he saw her again. The silvery musician girl. "Its you!" He cried triumphantly. In midst of all the excitment Lavi never once recognized her voice. "You're alright! Hey, I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"Yeah. great job on tha-"

"Bratsss," That inhuman voice rang in both Lavi and the girl's ears.

"Oh shit," Lavi heard her hiss. "Hurry, Tim. Back to the Ark!"

The golden bird took off like a rocket (if they had existed back then). Lavi could feel the force of the wind whipping at his face. It stung so much it made his eye tear up. He dangled precariously in the bird's beak. His only life line was the collar of his shirt that the bird held onto. Granted they were trying to out run, err, out fly that fanged freak but couldn't there have been enough time to let Lavi sit up top with the pretty girl?

Indeed the "fanged freak," as Lavi dubbed him, was hot on the trail of the two. Whenever they'd bank at a turn, Lavi would look over his shoulder to see the freaky man soaring through the air like a hawk.

"Why's he after me?!" Lavi cried out to the girl.

"Because you're trespassing here." The girl answered. "Think of Crowley as the clean up crew."

Well that didn't sound pleasant, thought Lavi.

The bird cried something painful. Both Lavi and the girl turned to see that-what'd she call him, something-crow, looked more like a bat to Lavi-Crow-guy had speed up enough to rip out a few of the bird's tail feathers. Lavi could tell that the bird was struggling to stay aflight. It flapped its wings and squaked as it continued forward.

"We're so close, Tim! You can do it!" The girl urged the bird on. Lavi joined in as well. But it didn't really matter. The pain had slowed the bird down. And that crazy fanged freak had caught up. He flew over the group and swooped down in front of them. Lavi felt his heart race when he suddenly became face to face with the man again.

The bird, however, wasn't having any of it. The bird reared back its head, pulling Lavi back, and struck at the man with its talons. Both Lavi and the girl cheered the bird on. After a brief struggle, the bird had landed a powerful blow. Lavi could see the man's clothes tear and a red gash form across his chest.

"Hurry, Tim. Hurry to the Ark!" The girl yelled. And the bird obeyed. The group took off again, but not nearly as fast as they once were. They rounded a few more corners before entering a long hallway. Lavi gulped. He'd read enough books in his lifetime to know that this was what they called "make it or break it" time. Somehow he just knew that if they could get past this they'd be safe.

The man's voice reverberated throughout the hallway. Lavi went pale at the sound of his voice. It actually sounded far less human than it had before. He didn't dare turn around for fear of seeing the man. Instead Lavi prayed for some sort of miracle to occur. The man was gaining on them yet again. All hope seemed lost.

"So close, so close," Lavi heard the girl mumble. For whatever reason, her voice sounded very deep and almost, masculine. Almost. Just not quite.

Lavi could hear the golden bird pant. Its exhaustion was evident. Its wings were slowing down and its height was dropping fast. He wasn't sure they'd make it. That fanged man was still behind them. His voice was getting louder-meaning he was getting closer. Lavi could feel that his hope was sinking fast. He wasn't sure that they'd make it. Even as they neared the end of the hallway.

Suddenly the girl took in a deep breath and screamed at the top of her lungs, "ELIADE! NOW!"

Lavi's whole body jolted in shock. 'What was she doing? And why does she sound like a guy?!'

As if on cue, the door at the end of the hallway opened. The bird reared back and began to slow down. On the otherside of the door was a giant. And what a giant she was! She was fair skinned, blonde hair tied in pig tails, and curvacious. Scantily dressed in a small black colored nurse's uniform. Lavi was instantly drooling. Not that he forgot about the silver haired girl or anything. But it was especially hard not to notice that Blonde bombshell.

"Eliade?" Lavi looked over to see that the fanged guy had stopped his pursuit. Apparently he noticed the blonde too.

"Oh, Master Aliester," The giant woman, whose name is apparently Eliade, looked at the man with bed room eyes. Her lower lip pouted and her voice was silky smooth. There was even a slight blush across her face when she said his name-wait, did she just call that guy 'master?'

"WHAT TH' HELLS GOIN' ON HERE!?" Lavi's brain was starting to have coniptions.

Everyone just ignored and kept on with what they were doing before. The man, Aliester, glided over to Eliade. A love-lorn expression was painted on both of their faces.

"Oh, Eliade. Eliade my love," Aleister began.

"Master Aleister, I'm sorry. But I'm putting you down." Eliade's expression instantly changed from dreamy seduction to something scarey fierce. She then clapped Alesiter between her giant hands. Lavi was fairly certain that he heard some of Aleister's bones go "crunch." The giantess opened her hands. An unconscious Aleister laid prone in one hand, while she held out the other for the golden bird to perch on. "I did my part. Now you'd better hold up your end of the bargain." She said to the silver haired girl. Her words were surprisingly curt. Nothing at all like what Lavi expected.

"I will, I will. Now can you take us into the Ark? Timcanpy needs to sleep." The silver haired girl answered. The golden bird chirpped and nodded his head in agreement.

"Say, uhh," Lavi piped up. "Not to interupt anything here, but, CAN YOU LET ME DOWN NOW!?"

"Oh. Right. Sorry. Tim, you can let him go now." The golden chirpped again and dropped Lavi into the hand of the giantess, Eliade.

"Thank you," Lavi said with a sigh of relief.

The silver haired girl hopped down from the golden bird. And Eliade turned no her heals and headed back into the room she came from. The silver girl walked up to Lavi and introduced herself:

"Hi there. I'm Allen."

Author's Notes: I honestly thought about having Lavi kiss Allen before he realized that Allen was a guy. Then Allen would freak out and Lavi would overreact in the most dramatic way possible. But I decided to hurry up and end it here. ^_^