The Devil's Innocent Soul: 8
"So, what's going to happen to me when we get to the Order?" I asked, my cheeks crushed into the window's sill. I watched Ty bob through the air merrily by us and I breathed with the air curling across my head. I had asked the question, but no response from Roxanna came. She had long since given up telling me she wasn't going to answer my questions.
"What happens to Accommodators?" I was only asking now to fill up space. With so many questions bursting within me and Joseph, and no answers coming from Roxanna, little conversation was had. I didn't like silence.
"How long will we be visiting the Order?" I murmured. To this I was surprised to find that Roxanna answered me.
"It's not going to be just a visit. Not when you're an Accommodator." I asked her about this but she simply fell back into her silence. I sighed irritable and voiced my list of questions again. Roxanna wrote in her book and didn't look up to meet my eyes as I talked but I knew she was listening. Always waiting and watching.
Her words put me into a panic, one that I hid with an indifferent expression. If we weren't going to the Order as guests, were we going as prisoners? The way Roxanna talked about them, the way she made them sound all powerful and cold. What did these people intend to do with me?
I questioned my sanity as a sat hand in hand with the boy who I barely knew. What was I doing willing following strangers into the great unknown place they called the Black Order? The closer we got to our destination, discomfort steadily grew in my chest. Wasn't it natural to run from your fears? Why was I reaching out to meet it?
I shook my head incredulously, as took to staring at Ty again and running back through my list of questions. We hadn't been sitting in the carriage for very long, but I was beginning to feel claustrophobic.
"How long, do you suppose, this trip will take?" I asked nestling into my blankets.
"We should be almost there." Roxanna looked up and called to Emmet, "How long?"
"30 seconds unless a freak bolt of lightning comes and strikes us." Emmet called back.
"Really?" I said sitting up in my seat and craning my neck out the window and toward the front of the wagon. "…woah." I murmured.
The building was astonishing. Taller than most of the buildings I had seen it London, It towered over an orchid of dark trees that concealed it from the rest of the world. The front was built as a long solid block lying relatively close to the ground but holding no doubt countless rooms, by the look of the obsessive masses of windows. Farther down two towers raised up making the impression of a 'u'. Even farther away from that held a collection of more towers and rooms. So many that I couldn't conceivably find a use for them all. On top of each tower, statues of man and angels alike held themselves daintily and proudly on their perches. Large spikes reached towards the sky to add to the modern day Victorian style. Bleached stone walls stood tall and leered across the horizon. Shadows from the columns and walls jumped across the building making the bright day seem darker than it should be. It was beautiful and terrifying at the same time.
"It's so big."
"Let me see." Joseph said standing over me. I pulled myself in so he could lean over and see for himself. A long whistle issues from him and he pulled himself in and sat back into his seat. "Impressive."
"We've recently relocated the Order to this new location." Roxanna said folding her book and things it her shoulder bag. She stood and opened the door, gesturing us to follow. Emmet pulled up to the entrance and Roxanna stepped out allowing us to come.
The entrance was grand, as I had come to except at this point. It reminded me of some of the more majestic churches, the ones who could afford delicate window and stained glass. Around the luxurious archway that helped the entrance was surrounded with detailed English architecture and design. We stood in a well maintained courtyard though there didn't seem to be anyone currently working on trimming the trees or the millions of planted rose bushes flourishing around us. Emmet and the carriage pulled away from us and traveled down the strip of road and behind the edge of the building. Emmet and I stood in awe at the brilliant structure. Roxanna cleared her throat and we looked at her.
"Welcome." She smiled at us, "to the Black Order." She turned and walked toward the doors. A small black creature approached us and I first mistook it for Ty, but quickly resized it was far from my birdie friend. The object looked like a croaked black bat that hovered in front of Roxanna. She took it in her hand and held It close to her mouth as she murmured to it.
We watched as she whispered into the bat and after a few minutes she turned to us. "I need both of you to hold still. I need to scan you to make sure you aren't Akuma or Noah."
"Noah? Like the ark guy?" I asked as Roxanna lifted the bat towards us. She didn't answer, just held the winged orb in front of her and pressed a button on its side. A laser shot out of it and I flinched. The laser spread of like a fan and ran up and down our bodies. The bat thing clicked and made a series of beeps and flew off.
"I have authorization to bring you in now." She said wistfully watching the bat fly away. She waved her hand for us to come and she led the way to the door. A man stood in front garnished in a black cloak hold out a black coated arm and a bare palm. Roxanna approached him and held his hand while tracing something on his palm with her finger. "Access code for Sara and Joseph XCDD3T authorization accepted detail listed 555674." She said finishing her tracing. The man nodded and moved away signaling to someone to open the doors.
The door lurched forward and swung out opening to a beautifully embellished entry room. It was wide and open like a ballroom and it held a mural on the surrounding walls. The mural was strange, one depicting many people baying to a cube with sentences it some strange language flowing from it. Glowing green rings surrounding bibles and crosses. An angel holding a hand towards me. Smiling.
"It's beautiful." I said looking at the angel. Joseph stood by me a smiled at the angel girl too.
"Yes." He agreed.
Around us stood many different types of men and women of a variety of looks and sizes. Some were dreseds in the black cloaks while other dressed in the tan overcoat Roxanna and Emmet had been wearing but most of them were dressed in normal street clothes. A man dressed in a suit looked me and Joseph over and patted us down for weapons. These people obviously didn't trust strangers by the way the stared and sized us up.
"Now," Roxanna said, "Sara, you will need to come with me while my associates accompany Joseph."
"I'm not going-"
"I will keep my promise. Joseph will not be hurt." Roxanna said and I meet her eyes skeptically.
I felt a hand on my back and I was pushed forward gently , "Go on Sara. I'll be alright. I can handle myself."
I doubted it. He couldn't find his way out of a cardboard box in his present state of sight let alone defend himself. Still he smiled confidently and Roxanna pulled on my blanket to usher me forward. He turned away from me and followed the uniformed men.
"I can trust you?" I turned to Roxanna, my panic showing now. She blinked and nodded. "Alright then…" and I followed at her heels as she led me away.
We entered many different hallways, each were darker than one would expect holding many different doors that Roxanna briefly told me about.
"These are some of the individual rooms of the members of the Order." Or sometimes she'd say, "This is a storage area for the biology section of the science division." Or , "Whatever you do don't go in here."
I was lead through several different sections before we finally stopped.
"Lenalee!" Roxanna called. A girl standing at of the end of the hall twirled around slowly. She had shining black hair the caught the light just in the way that it held tints of greens and blues in it. It was cut short, and bouncing in a bob reaching to the bottom of her chin. A black uniform jacket clung to her body showing of all the shapes and curves that complimented her body just so, trimmed in red and embellished in silver accessories and buttons. She had a bright red skirt that hiked up her thigh and showed off her legs. She wore red high heels and wrapped around her ankles were thick dark red rings.
She looked at us and smiled brightly, eyes shinning beautifully. She walked gracefully towards us and I couldn't help but look at her figure. I looked at her chest and then to mine. I sighed and watched the girl.
"Is this the new Exorcist Roxanna?" The girl named Lenalee asked.
"Yes."
"Exorcist?" I should have guessed with all that angel stuff.
"Sara, this is Lenalee. She's an Accommodator as well. She will lead you to Komui and the scientists from here where your Innocence will be evaluated."
"Are these people actually going to answer my questions?" I asked irritated.
"They will." She smiled and nodded to Lenalee. She left me standing there and I was forced to face the girl beside me.
"Well, as you probably already know. I'm Sara."
"Lenalee Lee." She responded and held a dainty hand out to me. I blinked and took her hand and we shook. "Come." She said and waved me forward, "I'm sure you have a lot of questions so feel free to ask me anything."
Where to start?
"What does the Order want with me?"
"Well, since you have Innocence, the Order wants to train you to learn how to use your powers to defeat Akuma."
"Powers?"
"Yes," she said and gave me a sideways glance, "There must have been a time were something has happened to you. Something you couldn't explain with logic."
"Many times really. You know those Akuma things?" I asked and she nodded encouragingly. "When I touched them they dissolve. Well, sometimes." I said thinking back to the Lion.
She looked thoughtful, "Did you touch them with your bare hand?" when I nodded she continued, "Sounds like you have Innocence inside you. You must be a parasitic type."
"That sounds painful."
Her eyes were sad for a moment but then she quickly brushed it away with a smile, "Parasitic just means that the Innocence resides within the Accommodator's own body. Innocence takes on many different forms depending on the Accommodator and synchronization rate."
"What kinds of forms?"
"Well, my friend Lavi has an equipment type Innocence. It takes the form of a weapon that the Accommodator can wield. In his case it's a hammer that can change sizes and send up pretty impressive magic seals."
An image of a mechanic flitted through my head. "Are Parasitic and Equipment the only ones?" I asked.
"Well, those are the two basic categories but there are many different types and forms. The possibilities are endless."
"What's yours?"
"I'm sort of a special case. I have a crystal type Innocence which is sort of a mix of the two." She stopped and pointed to her feet. I looked at the rings around her ankles and watched as they sprung out suddenly and incased Lenalee legs. Now she had large armor like boots that wrapped around her knees and held metallic plate over her thighs. The deep red color stood in contrast with the bright blood red feather like wings the fluttered at the heels. In the front, on the ridge on her foot, a glowing cross winked at me.
"How did you do that?" I gasped, stunned.
"I'm the Innocence's Accommodator so I have control over it. Since mine is Crystal type it reacts with my thoughts and feelings." She said smiling. I crouched down cautiously and held my hand out to her boots and paused.
"Can I touch them?" I asked. She blinked, a bit taken back and nodded. I pressed my fingers against the boots. They were smooth and warm, but hard at stone. I held my hand there for a moment and waited. After a few seconds I felt a faint beat. Like a heart beat rushing blood through the body, I felt a similar flow of power running through the boots. I took my hand away and stood.
"What's it made of?" I asked, rubbing my hand.
"Blood."
"…what?"
"Crystal type Innocence is made from the accommodator's blood." She said and then laughed as my eyes grew wide. "Don't worry." She added, "If you're parasitic type you won't have to worry about your blood becoming your Innocence." She returned her boots back to anklets, "It's only Equipment type who can do that."
"I'm confused…" I murmured, "What exactly is Innocence? How can it be both hammers and blood and boots?" she smiled.
"The scientists will explain the origin of Innocence if you're interested." She said leading me forward once again, "but I can explain what Innocence is itself."
"Innocence is a substance that's been around since the days of darkness. We don't really fully understand Innocence because has so many different properties that change spontaneously. You see, Innocence isn't really an object that has one specific form. When it's in its purest form it tends to look like a cube with glowing rings around it." She drew it in the air with her finger. "But mostly we find it attached to something else of in some form that reflects its desires."
"Desires? So it's like… alive?" she paused and pursed her lips.
"No… well…it's hard to explain. Innocence isn't alive but it has a consciousness."
"That doesn't make sense."
"Like I said we don't fully understand Innocence." She smiled. "Anyway, Innocence can reside inside objects but they also can take various forms depend on the situation. Once I went on a mission to retrieve an Innocence that had been inside a clock. The town it was in was trapped inside a bubble of time that made the same day replay over and over again."
I blinked, "Innocence can do something like that?"
"Yea, Innocence can do all types of things. My Innocence gives me the ability to travel faster than the speed of sound and jump to great heights."
"I… can't even imagine that." I murmured look down at her anklets.
She smiled and continued, " It used to be inside my dark boots but when it changed into a crystal type it entered my blood and now my boots are directly connected with me."
"Then, what powers does my Innocence have then?" I asked.
She seemed thoughtful, "I don't know. Do you have any special talents or abilities?" I thought about this and came up with nothing. Sadly I was incredibly bland.
"I can heal." I decided to say, "Whenever I have an injury, no matter how bad, I normally am completely healed within the next day."
"Really?" she asked looking me up and down. "I wonder if it's your skin that's the Innocence, if Akuma dissolve when you touch them and your body regenerates." She stopped walking and opened a door to our left. "Anyway, you're going to find out soon. This leads to the first section of the science division and my brother Komui will meet with you here. I'd come with you but…" she smiled apologetically, "I have some work to do." She bowed and wished me luck and then quickly fleeted away.
I watched her go away, but made no attempt to enter the science division. I wondered about Lenalee, she seemed nice, but every time she smiled she looked almost like she was going to break. Despite that small distress, it was nice talking with her. She seemed to genuinely care about explaining things to me and she didn't give of the aura of condescendence that people have when they clarify things. She didn't make me feel stupid. She made it feel like she was holding her arms wide open, inviting me to trust her.
I shook my head lightly and entered the science division.
The division was gigantic, and the room I stood in, which I could only assume to be the main room, was filled with a massive team of people rushing around towers of books and papers. I watch workers huddled over their desk writing furiously on forms, and uniformed people it long white medical coats lugging around pile of papers to various places. A tired looking man with bright blond hair was balancing books in his arms and I called out to him.
"Um…do you need help?" I asked as he wavered back and forth.
"Help would be much obliged, thank you." He said and crouched so I could take some of his load away.
"Where do these go?" I asked heaving under the books.
"On Johnny's desk." He replied waddling across the room and I followed him. We made it to a frizzy haired man's desk and he dumped the load on the table top. The man didn't even flinch from his work, he just continued writing and gripping a coffee cup in his other hand. The blond took my load of books and added it to the other stack. He sighed and turned to me.
"Thanks again, my name is Apollo."
"The Greek god?" he laughed merrily and ran his fingers through his hair.
"I wish. I'm no god, just a scientist. It's nice to meet you…"
"Sara." I told him my name, "Would you happen to know where Komui is?"
He nodded, and pointed to a door at the other side of the room, "The chief will be through those doors, no doubt being hassled by Fey."
"Fey?'"
"Brigitte Fey. Chief's assistant."
"Oh… Thank you." I nodded at the man and quickly left, making my way through the cluttered room to the doors.
I stood staring at the doors for a moment before deciding to knock. My knuckles hit the door and they swung open almost instantly. A woman stood in front of me, short slightly curled hair and strict eyes. Her white uniform jacket was form fitting and clung to her body. It had a big pop up collar the double as a necklace holding some sort of pendent. We stood at the same high but I felt an intimidating presence from her and I cautiously took a step back.
"Do you need something?" she asked.
"Is Komui here?" I responded, not really knowing what I was doing.
"He is. Is there something you need?"
"Uh…"
"Fey let the poor thing in, I've been doing my work and I have time to see a visitor." A voice called from within the room. The women, Fey, glared at me and then stepped away from the door and went into the corner of the room to organize papers. I stepped into the room hesitantly and looked around. The room was spotless but I assumed that was from the influence of Fey because the desk of the man inside was so cluttered I was surprised to consider any actually work got done on it. The walls around the room were a complex of many drawers and shelves and behind the grand oak desk was a large map of the world full of pins and notes. The man himself was dressed in a jacket similar to Fey's only his was full body reach down to his knees.
Despite what the desk might tell about him, he looked like a neat man. Posture straight and hair neat, he held himself professionally enough. His dark hair caught the light much like his sister's, Lenalee, but his had a purplish hue to it. Thin rectangular glasses rested on his face. I would have thought him to be a strict uptight workaholic if it wasn't for the hat.
I failed to see where the beret was part of his uniform. It sat happily on the top of his long black hair and it said so much about the man. I smiled at him.
"Are you Komui?" I asked.
"Indeed I am." He smiled back at me, "And who do I have the pleasure of meeting today."
"My name is Sara." He seemed confused for a moment but then his eyes brighten and a wide grin spread across his face. He stood.
"The new Exorcist! Roxanna called in about you. Welcome. Welcome!" he sang rounding his desk and held an arm out, "I am Komui Lee, head officer of the science department and my excessively scowling assistant is Brigitte Fey." Fey scoffed but didn't say anything. Komui stepped forward and took my hand shaking it. "Welcome to the Black Order." He said.
"T-thanks." I said, my face going slightly red.
"I'm sure you have a million questions for me but first we must head off to Hevlaska."
"Hevlaska?"
"Yes follow me." He turned briefly to Fey, "I'm going to report to my duties to the Exorcists so there isn't any need for you to come with me."
"There and back sir. No slacking off. We still need to finish the Oaklance reports by tonight." She looked at him in a scolding way, "If you're not back at a reasonable time I'm coming after you."
"Yes, yes." He said and rushed me from the room. Once we got out of the room, he turned and quickly shut the door. A sigh heaved across his body and he turned his head to me. It was then that I saw the dark circle under his eyes.
"She's killing me." He muttered.
"She seems just lovely." I said looking at the door. He laughed lightly and stood up straight and grinned at me.
"Let's go to Hevlaska." He nodded and waved me forward and out of the science department.
"Um…" I began a bit uncomfortable, "Roxanna and Lenalee told me you'd be able to answer my questions."
"And I can. They could probably answer them as well but the new restriction the higher ups have placed on us have put us in a jam when I come to dealing out information." He glanced at me as we walked, "We can't afford information getting into the wrong hands. I'm confident though that you are who you appear to be. A friend and ally."
"O-ok. Then you can tell me exactly what Innocence is right? Where it comes from and how it does what it does."
"It's a pretty long story." He said rubbing his hand together thoughtfully, "Only the Black Order, the New World Alliance and the Millennium Earl know. It all began several hundred years ago after a cube was discovered:
We are the ones who triumphed over darkness
And the ones who shall soon meet their end
Yet impending doom awaits in the future
Thus, we bring salvation to thee
Here, we leave a message…
"Inside the cube we found a prophecy from an ancient civilization. Instructions on the usage of certain material. The cube itself was made of it. A material known as 'The Crystal of God'. We call it 'Innocence'. Innocence that is used as a weapon is called an 'Anti-Akuma Weapon'.
"The creator of the cube says they defeated the Millennium Earl, who appeared with his demons, using the Innocence. None the less, in the end the world was destroyed. It happened approximately seven thousand years ago. We know it as 'The Great Flood' from the Old Testament. However, the cube chronicles says it as 'The Three Days of Darkness'.
"Also according to the prophecy from the cube, the world will come to an end once more, this time at the hands of the Earl. The return of 'The Three Days of Darkness.' The Earl has indeed returned to the world as stated in the prophecy. Because of this, the New World Alliance decided to obey the message from the cube. To resurrect the Innocence and establish the Black Order.
Gather the soldiers of Life!
Each Innocence will choose a soldier.
They will be known as The Accommodators!
Only an Accommodator will be able to wield the power of the Innocence!
"The Accommodators of Innocence are also known as Exorcists, such as yourself. But, the Earl has not forgotten the past. He has also created an army to destroy God. They are known as Akuma.
"If Innocence is white the contrast is black. It is the 'Dark Matter' used to create Akuma. The more Akuma evolves, the more the dark matter matures and becomes powerful. The Earl is plotting to destroy the Innocence and thus avoid its resurrection. The Innocence was washed away during the great flood and has been dispersed throughout the world.
"There's a total of one hundred and nine Innocence. We must retrieve the Innocence scattered throughout the world to gather enough strength to destroy the Earl. The Earl is also searching for the Innocence to destroy it. This is a race to find the Innocence. The moment we lose the crusade the prophecy of 'The end will be fulfilled'." He finished and then smiled apologetically. "Sorry, went on a bit of a tangent there. Long day."
"It's alright… um… a few questions." I said staring at him in awe. "Who… is the Millennium Earl?"
"He's the arch enemy of the Order. The creator of Akuma and the Leader of the Noah."
"And the Noah are…"
"The Noah are very mysterious really and we don't know much about them. They are a secretive group that works under the Earl. Very powerful. Very deadly. We've lost a lot of great men to the Noah." He looked away sullenly, his eyes growing foggy. I pursed my lips and changed my question.
"What are the Akuma?"
"Akuma actually means Demon. But what we're talking about isn't a Demon. It's the name of a weapon. An Akuma is made basically of a machine, a soul, and a tragedy." He paused and then looked into my eyes seriously, "Everyone has darkness in their hearts. When faced with a loved one's death that darkness grows and attracts 'The Maker', the Earl. He comes with a machine and tells the poor creature that he can bring who they love back to life. All they must do is call the person name."
"It's a trap Sara, you must remember that. Once the name is called the soul returns to the world but the Earl orders the soul now trapped within the machine to kill whom brought them back to life. Once the person is killed the machine is ordered to take the skin and wear it as its own-" he stopped. "Are you okay?"
"Yea… I-I'm fine." My face paled and I felt sweet pouring down my face. Flashes of the people I had talk to over the past months, the men and women… the children. "No, I'm not alright." I bend down and took a seat on the floor. I curled my knees up to my chest and dropped my head into my arms.
"It's a lot to take in." Komui said sympathetically. "It must have been very hard for you. Not knowing all this when there were Akuma attacking you."
Though that was true, it was not why I was having an episode. Memories of Akuma I had met through these months, the talk of pain and their sorrows. Their talk of loved ones. They were always just machines wearing corpses. I felt like my chest was ripping itself apart, and tears threaten in my eyes.
"Sara." Komui said softly. "Akuma are very sad creatures forced to kill against their will and there is no way to save them other than to destroy the machine and set the soul free." I looked up at him when he said that.
"That sets the soul free?" I asked, hope filling my voice. He smiled softly and nodded. I sniffed and stood. "I've meet Akuma before. I'm glad they were saved." I began walking in the direction we had been going in. I grew silent and all of my question washed away in my mind. Komui walked by me, respectful of my silence and all attempt of conversation resided.
Komui led me to a room with no floor. It was constructed like a large chasm with a long skinny platform running into the middle of the room. The platform was several people wide and built out of solid stone but as it propelled itself over the bottomless pit I doubted it was sturdy. None the less, Komui walked out confidently onto the ridge and so I followed him reluctantly.
The room was dark and eerily cold, but Komui didn't seem effected by the atmosphere. In fact, he seemed quite comfortable.
"Hevlaska." He called once we reached the edge of the platform. I was trying not to think about me being suspended god knows how many feet in the air. Slowly the darkness to the room lightened, changing from a hazy glow to a bright, almost blinding, glare. In front of Komui a giant mass appear and lifted into the air. The creature had a beautiful face from what I could see between its flowing hair and ribbons of light covering its eyes. The creature was covered in these ribbons, her body concealed by a vision of luscious hair.
"An angel." I murmured. They must have painted that mural wrong.
"Mmmh?" Komui gave me a sideways glance. "She's not an angel." He scribbled something onto a clipboard and then looked up to Hevlaska. "This is Sara, our new Exorcist."
Large white ribbons twirled through the air, directing tentacles towards me. I stumbled back and fell against the stone ground.
"Komui!" I squeaked trying to pull myself away from the appendages.
"Show me your innocence."
"I'm good thanks." I managed to get out as the ribbons caught me and lifted into the air.
