D . Gray-man is owned by Katsura Hoshino, meaning it does not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original D . Gray-man storyline (such as Gracia) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.


"Ah, there it is…!"

Lenalee and the Finder that accompanied her and Gracia sighed in relief as the older female Exorcist pointed down the path with a smile, the tree line finally giving way and revealing a town a several meters ahead.

They'd been wandering around in the forest for almost two hours, following Gracia's instructions when their map had failed them. Just when it seemed she'd gotten them even more lost, though, they'd made it.

Just outside of the town were two figures in tan coats; more Finders.

Both raised their hands slightly and waved, standing from the stump they were sitting on and walking over.

"Miss Lenalee!" One of them said as they approached, "It's good to see you arrived safely."

"It's good to see you two are safe, as well." Lenalee smiled at them, "Have the other two Finders reappeared?"

"No, Miss." The other Finder shook his head, "Sol and Marco are still missing…"

Lenalee frowned slightly at that, then she perked, smiling again, "Don't worry; Gracia and I will find them." She glanced at Gracia, who smiled slightly and nodded back.

"Before we do anything, though," Gracia held up one hand, "We should probably go over the details with one another."

"Ah, good point, Miss…"

"Gracia." Gracia smiled at the two Finders, nodding.

"Miss Gracia." The two Finders bowed to her slightly, then glanced back at the town, "Discussing it out here isn't exactly secure, but the townspeople are a bit upset with us after what happened to Sol and Marco…"

"…That's okay." Gracia smiled, starting to walk towards the town with her sleepy gait, "I know people here, and I know someone who will let us use a room…"

The two Finders blinked, then glanced at Lenalee, who smiled and nodded, following Gracia, the Finder that had come with the two females following her.


"Ah, Gracia? Are you sure about this…?" Lenalee asked, unsure, as she glanced around the alleyway they were in, chewing on her lip.

Behind her, the three Finders looked about as unsure as she did, but in front of her Gracia only smiled in her glassy-eyed, foggy way as she nodded, then turned and knocked on the back door of the building they were behind.

The door opened a moment later and a young woman with a flour-coated face and two long, rust-colored braids hanging over her shoulders poked her head out, blinking with she saw five people loitering behind her building.

Her brows furrowed and she opened her mouth, as if to say something, but before she could Gracia lifted her hand and waved, smiling.

"Hi!"

The young woman froze, staring down at Gracia silently.

Lenalee and the Finders jumped when she then squealed and lunged at Gracia to hug her tightly, dusting her black Exorcist uniform in flour as she spun her around.

"Grace, Grace, Grace!"

"Pie!"

The joyous reunion came to a twitching halt, the braided female pulling back from Gracia and pinning her with a grinning, twitching glare, "It's 'Haley,' not 'Pie'."

"Oh, I know your name isn't 'Pie'." Gracia smiled, not at all ashamed as she said, "I just forgot your name and associated you with your fantastic pies, instead."

Lenalee, the Finders and Haley went deadpanned.

"What did you want, Gracia?" Haley asked, smiling but twitching at the same time.

"Somewhere where I can talk with my companions without having to worry about anyone listening in…" Gracia smiled back at her, "Can we come in?"

Haley blinked down at her, then glanced around as if making sure no one was listening or looking. When she was sure it was secure, she nodded to Lenalee and the others, then grabbed Gracia and pulled her inside, leaving the door open.

Lenalee and the Finders blinked, then walked inside quickly.

"You all can use the back room." Haley said once they were all in, nodding as the door was shut, "But what's going on?"

Lenalee and Gracia exchanged glances, then Gracia looked at Haley and nodded, "I have a new job for an organization called the Black Order… We go around investigating 'paranormal' occurrences linked to this thing called 'Innocence'. We think the strange things that are going on with the aqueduct have to do with Innocence."

Haley blinked, then scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Are you kidding me? That's the same crap they," She gestured to the Finders, "Were spouting. They said they could handle it, but two of them went missing. Haven't I told you? It's better to leave the aqueduct alone."

"…You know, Farron wouldn't agree with y—"

Lenalee jumped slightly and covered her mouth with a hand when Haley slapped Gracia across the face, the baker's eyes narrowed and livid.

"I'll bring back a pie in a moment." Haley hissed, "Feel free to talk about whatever you need to." She then turned and stormed out of the room, taking a swinging door directly across from the door that led back out to the alley.

Once she was gone, Lenalee stepped towards Gracia, mumbling her name.

"…I'm fine." Gracia said after a moment, looking back at Lenalee and the Finders with a slightly vacant smile, "I probably touched a nerve… Farron was her boyfriend; he disappeared along the aqueduct chasing after his younger sister."

Lenalee flinched, "I see…"

Gracia nodded, sighing. It was something she couldn't forget, her bad memory aside… The look on Haley's face when she'd been told had pierced right through Gracia's sleepy fog.

The girl, though, had a bright demeanor, and she'd managed to make it look like she'd recovered in two days…

"I really need to think about what I say before I say it…" Gracia mumbled, the guilt finally starting to sink in as she realized how callously she'd acted.

"She hasn't kicked us out…" Lenalee set a reassuring hand on Gracia's shoulder, smiling, "She's probably just a little mad; not irreparably so."

"I suppose…" Gracia sighed and glanced at the Finders who had already been in Grate, nodding, "So, what did you guys find out…?"

The Finders exchanged glances, then pulled off their massive backpacks and sat down on them, sighing.

"There are stairwells that lead up to the maintenance path every eighty feet, or every four support pillars." One started, "Almost all of the ones in the vicinity of the town have been blocked off, though there was one, just outside of town and facing away from it, that had been cleared. That was the one we used."

"We checked out both sides." The other chimed in, rubbing his neck, "Going east doesn't get you anywhere; there's a massive gate about thirty miles down where the path ends because the aqueduct rejoins with the river. The problem starts about twenty feet westbound…"

"Trevor and I were on the left side…" The first Finder picked up again, his voice lowering slightly, "Sol and Marco were on the right…"

Trevor picked up again, his voice also lowering, "We were in constant communication so if anything happened, we'd have an idea of about where it occurrences were starting… Loel was just telling us this joke when the connection with Sol and Marco got bad…"

"When we looked over there was something… shining in front of them…"

"And a moment later they were gone."

The two Finders fell silent.

"…And you haven't seen them since?" The Finder who had come with Lenalee and Gracia asked after a moment. When the two men shook their heads, the third Finder glanced at the two Exorcists, "Communication golems won't work, then. And there haven't been any Akuma sightings… It has to be an Innocence."

"Then we don't have far to go." Lenalee said with a decisive nod, standing straight, "Gracia…"

"…Right." Gracia nodded slightly, standing straight from the table she was leaning against and glancing at the Finders, "One of you… should stay here. That way if we don't come back, you can call the Supervisor…"

"Right." The two Finders who had been there the longest exchanged glances, Trevor speaking up before Loel could, "Sorry, buddy, but that'll be you. I've got seniority."

Loel opened and closed his mouth, then sighed and lowered his head, giving in.

"Okay," Lenalee nodded, "Let's go."

Gracia watched the younger Exorcist and the two Finders walk out the back door, feeling disoriented. It almost didn't seem real, what was going on… Had she fallen asleep on the train?

But when Lenalee reached back into the room and grabbed her wrist, pulling her along, it suddenly sank in that it was finally beginning… Her first mission was actually beginning…

"Ah, that's right…" She glanced back at the Finder they were leaving behind, mumbling as she grabbed the door and started to shut it behind herself as Lenalee continued dragging her, "Tell Haley to take a break and eat the pie, herself. She needs the sugar…"

The door shut behind her completely as Lenalee gave her arm a rough tug, and the town seemed to flash by as the younger Exorcist continued pulling her along.

Gracia wasn't used to going anywhere near as quickly when she walked, and it was more disorienting than the idea that she was actually about to investigate a rogue Innocence, and that she might actually find herself in a fight…

The town, which was small, abruptly ended along the edge of the aqueduct, the structure looming darkly and ominously with blackened bricks grown over with moss and ivy that obviously hadn't been trimmed in years, the plant weighing so much in some areas it was sagging or had long since fallen to the ground and was now growing in a carpet.

Gracia sighed and continued slumping after Lenalee, absently glancing skyward. Twilight was close, and Gracia was already feeling the effects of the coming evening; had been feeling them since they'd arrived in the town.

But as she watched Lenalee order one Finder to stay at the base of the staircase and the other to follow them up, she realized they could well be pulling an all-nighter; there hadn't been any signs of Akuma yet, so there was no reason to stay around and wait for them. Best to get the Innocence and go before undesirables found out about it…

"You stay here." Lenalee was saying when Gracia's consciousness swam back up from the depths of her sleepy thoughts, "Gracia and I will head in and check it out. If we're not back in a day and a half, assume something went wrong."

Gracia blinked slowly at that, vaguely wondering if she shouldn't be worried…

"Gracia, are you ready?"

She blinked and looked at Lenalee, then looked around slowly.

Somehow, they'd gotten to the top of the stone staircase without her realizing it and were now standing on one of two sidewalks that ran parallel on either side of the slow moving canal in the middle.

The Tremmel Aqueduct was some fifty feet in the air, made of darkly-colored limestone, and was in poor repair, just as the reports had said it was… Though despite its obvious age, nothing seemed wrong with it.

…Though there was an odd stillness in the air…

When Sleep suddenly warmed around her finger, Gracia reached out and took Lenalee's wrist, pulling her close and mumbling, "Lenalee, stay close as we walk along…"

Lenalee blinked, staring at the older woman in slight shock.

Her almost constantly murky gray eyes were suddenly clear, pupils narrowed as she looked around slowly but sharply. When Lenalee saw something flash slightly in the darkened twilight air, she looked down, chewing on her lip slightly when she saw Sleep flashing.

Oddly, though, Lenalee wasn't feeling any unnatural levels of tiredness.

Was Sleep… waking Gracia up…?

"…Okay." Lenalee nodded, falling into place beside the older woman as she started walking.

Gracia continued looking back and forth as she slowly reached up, grabbing the edges of her hood and pulling it up so it rested on her head. She didn't, though, pull it all the way into place; it really did muffle sounds too much, and if Lenalee spoke to her she wouldn't be able to understand a word she was saying…

"How does it look so far, Miss Lenalee?"

Gracia twitched and glanced over, blinking when one of the diamond-shaped 'bat' things flitted up beside Lenalee, its lightbulb eyes flashing.

"Clear, though the air is a little eerie, and Gracia's Innocence is reacting to something…"

"What about the Dark Boots?"

Lenalee paused, thinking about it, then blinked, "They do feel a bit heavier than usual…"

"Lenalee, what is that thing…?" Gracia asked, her previous sharpness giving way to sleepy curiosity.

"Hmm?" Lenalee glanced at Gracia, blinking. She then smiled, gesturing to the 'bat' thing, "Oh, this? It's a golem. They're Order-issue communication devices for Exorcists; you'll probably get one when we get home."

"Ahh…" Gracia nodded slowly.

When the air suddenly changed and something flashed brightly in front of them, Lenalee and Gracia froze, looking ahead slowly.

Right in front of them was something that hadn't been there before; an oval floor mirror with a stand made out of a very light, almost white wood.

It flashed, reflecting the light of absolutely nothing, then focused on them, reflecting them perfectly.

When Lenalee tensed beside Gracia, the older woman absently reached out and grabbed the hem of Lenalee's coat tightly; Finders had disappeared on this path, she wasn't about to let it happen to the girl unless she was dragged along, as well.

After a moment, though, nothing happened.

Frowning, Gracia took half a step forward.

The mirror flashed brightly again and Sleep heated around Gracia's finger. Now slightly behind her, Lenalee reached forward and clutched at Gracia's arm.

"Gracia, be careful…" She hissed.

"I know…" Gracia mumbled back, "But we won't get anywhere just standing here…"

"…I think we should walk up behind it." Lenalee mumbled.

"…Alright…" After a pause, Gracia turned slowly to face the canal and stepped towards it.

"Gracia!"

"I'm not comfortable with turning my back on that thing…" Gracia mumbled, keeping the mirror in sight out of the corner of her eye, "You stay there. I'll just wade across, walk up a bit more, then wade up behind it an—" As soon as she made to step off of the edge of the walkway and into the water, she blinked and found herself on the other side of the path, the backs of her legs all the way up to her mid-back pressed against the stone railing of the walkway and the canal some eight feet in front of her.

The mirror was still in the corner of her right eye, and in the corner of her left Lenalee was staring at her in shock, dark eyes darting from Gracia and back to the spot where she'd been standing a moment before.

Gracia looked at the spot, as well, to make sure she'd actually been there and hadn't done something stupid in her sleepy state, like walk backwards instead of forwards. But right there, on the edge of the path just before it dropped down into the water, was half of her shoe impression.

"…I don't think the mirror wants us coming up behind it…" Lenalee mumbled. "…We'll have to approach it from the front." When Gracia glanced at her, frowning, the girl shook her head, "The fact that it's doing strange things means it's been invocated by an Accommodator. An Accommodator must be nearby, and if we can't see them, then…"

They both looked at the mirror, which flashed and reflected them once more.

"…Think this is how Alice felt moments before going through the looking-glass?"

"No, Alice was much more curious." Lenalee mumbled in answer, "And I don't think her looking-glass was this ominous…"

"…Point." Gracia held out her hand towards Lenalee, mumbling, "Shall we, then?" She didn't want to take her eyes off of the mirror, and she didn't know how much closer they could get before the mirror did… whatever it was it was going to do to them.

And if this mirror was going to be anything like Alice's mirror, she didn't want to get separated from Lenalee; Gracia knew her Innocence made her rather useless when she was on her own, and Lenalee had a strong offense and high escape chances.

Lenalee's smaller hand slipped into Gracia's, which sported longer but equally thin fingers. A flash of green as Lenalee stepped closer told Gracia the girl had activated her Innocence, and Gracia had to work on keeping her own from activating as they walked towards the mirror slowly.

The closer they got to it, the taller the mirror seemed to get, and the taller it got, the more it leaned towards them on its axis to keep them in its direct line of reflection.

As soon as both females were directly in front of it, the mirror spun down towards them quickly on its stand, Gracia and Lenalee pressing close to one another as the cool glass swallowed them from head to foot like water.

Even when they were gone, it continued spinning for several revolutions, then it slowly came to a stop, flashing and still facing eastward before its reflective surface dulled.


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