Ethereal

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or D. Gray Man

AN: Sorry for the wait. I have a bunch of family and financial problems happening right now so Updates will be much slower. Also the computer crashed and all of my chapters were destroyed. I nearly gave up on this story because of that – be glad I got the motivation for this.

Warnings: Again I will be switching between using the names Harriet and Alma. Please try to remember that they are one and the same.

CHAPTER NINE

Giving out positive encouragements hidden behind gruff taunts and sharp provocations that actually worked in inspiring conviction whether it was in times of peace or in adversity – it was something that could only be expertly achieved by their resident grumpy Swordsman.

Komui couldn't help but be sharply reminded of the moment Kanda had quite literally kicked his ass into gear during the Attack on the Old HQ, orchestrated by the Noah of Lust, Lulubell. More accurately during Lenalee's Resonance with her Dark Boots when the very first Level-4 in existence proved to be too much for the rest of them to handle. He had been foolishly teetering between indecision and helplessness – unsure whether or not he would even be helpful to his sister – when Kanda had booted him from behind, sending him crashing into the rubble covered floor headfirst (1).

"What did you say, you fucking Sister-Complex?! I'm fed up with listening to you people! One after another!" Kanda had snarled at him incensed, somehow still able to stand despite his numerous injuries. The Swordsman had apparently found his hesitation unacceptable enough to ignore the pain in the face of his short temper.

Komui had only started picking himself off the floor, "K…Kanda…"

Kanda didn't give him the chance to continue. With a voice so calm, cold, and unwavering, the Swordsman had asked him, "Why did you enter the Black Order?"

The Answer and the meanings behind it had gotten through loud and clear. Memories of Lenalee flashed up behind his eyes. Her tears of joy when he finally greeted her for the first time since their cruel separation; How she grew stronger with each passing day until she was able to finally call her former prison her home; Her bright beautiful smiles that she gave him when she returned after completing each of her missions.

'I'm Home, Dàgē!'*

His resolve cemented. Komui had stood and ran towards his most Precious Person, feeling Kanda's eyes boring into his back. And somehow Komui knew the Swordsman's features were hardened in grim satisfaction.

He would be forever grateful to the Sword wielder for his blunt prompting. But still thankfulness aside, he still had a job to do.

Komui coughed pointedly and smiled when the two Second Exorcists turned their heads to look up at him. "Shall we continue then, Miss Karma?" he asked politely.

000

Harriet gave the man an awkward and sheepish smile before concentrating again on her Innocence. This time she had her determination to fight alongside Yuu, to save him, in the forefront of her mind. That was the interesting thing about the God Crystals, they don't synchronize with Accommodators based on things like physical prowess or superior intellect – they synchronize based on their resolve. Her conviction to protect Yuu is what allowed her to resynchronize with her Innocence and having that conviction in mind makes working with the God Crystal much easier – such as during her most recent battle when the Innocence accepted her resolve and evolved.

The best way to put it is that when she had her main resolve in mind, the Innocence proceeded to show her mind what to do and her mind showed her body how to use the new Anti-Akuma weapon.

Gradually, the thick white blade that made up her right arm thinned and regressed in size until it became a smaller but just as wickedly sharp arm-blade, the same one that she used in her most recent battle against the Noah. The wing on Harriet's back folded in on itself, looking like it was melding back into her body's chemistry, before it twisted across her torso, reforming into a curiously plated white cuirass with intricate silver detailing (2).

Komui hummed, taking a long sip of his Coffee before he set the mug on a nearby counter behind him. "How intriguing," he murmured, still examining the reformed blade with the trained eyes of a high-ranking Scientist.

The Chief Officer immediately grabbed a pen from his coat pocket and started scribbling away on the paperwork he had brought with him, "It seems that your Parasite-type Innocence takes the form of protective armour in addition to an Anti-Akuma weapon – very much like our Allen Walker. You know his Innocence, the Crown Clown, takes the form of a claw on his left hand and a white hooded fur cowl while yours takes the shape of a blade on your right arm and a white cuirass that covers your torso… hmm… and if one considers the fact that Parasitic Innocence take different shapes depending on the Accommodator, it is quite the coincidence that both Innocence shards took the forms of both a weapon and body armour, the only difference beings the opposite arms… it's somewhat like two sides to the same coin. How curious…"

Komui glanced up from his notes to survey both Kanda and Tokusa, an inquisitive gleam in his dark brown eyes, "Kanda, Tokusa what do you guys think? You both have worked with Allen on the field and you both had front row seats to Alma's battle. Aren't the differences and similarities just a tad… eerie?"

"It could be just a coincidence," Kanda grunted irritably, hiding his unease behind his impatience. The possibility of Alma's Innocence being any way connected to the Fourteenth's Host didn't sit well with him. As much as he was certain that the Moyashi wouldn't harm a single hair on his woman's head, the Fourteenth's motives and goals were still largely unknown, so Kanda didn't have any reason to trust the traitor Noah at all.

"Besides the Moyashi can also transform his left arm into a large sword. Alma's Innocence seems to be pretty melded to the rest of her body as far as I can see," the Swordsman continued, idly reaching out underneath the table to grab Alma's Innocence-free hand. The action of holding hands with this woman was becoming increasingly familiar, like a long forgotten habit starting up again. Maybe he had done the same thing in his past life as a way to keep a physical connection to Alma? The feeling of having her smaller hand intertwined in his own, the knowledge of her flesh still warm within his grasp, knowing that she was alive and firmly at his side… It brought him a comfort that he hadn't felt before. A comfort that had him feeling safe enough to lower the walls he created for himself, allowed his frozen heart to thaw and beat stronger than ever.

Maybe, now that he had found Alma, the echoes of his previous life were manifesting themselves in his consciousness? Perhaps even affecting his personality?

Well… it didn't really matter either way. Besides Kanda wasn't complaining in the slightest (not that he would ever admit it out loud.)

000

Wheeling up next to the Chief Officer, Tokusa surveyed the sharp blade cautiously – the Akuma cells in his body although dormant still burned with the instinct to activate his Akuma-altered arm, especially with being in such a close proximity with an Innocence shard. He suppressed the instinct with a little effort on his part.

"I personally agree with the Master Disciple on this issue. You may be looking too much into the fact that both Mister Walker's and the Lady Disciple's Anti-Akuma weapons are set inside opposite arms," the Third Exorcist imparted mildly.

After a moment more of examining Alma's arm-blade, something caught Tokusa's eye. "Oh, well this certainly seems interesting…" he muttered, arching an eyebrow.

"What seems interesting?" asked Alma, a worried note entering her voice as Komui looked over Tokusa's shoulder and blinked in surprise.

"Oh its nothing worth fretting over. He just means that if you look closely at the edge of the blade you can see small letters inscribed into the metal," Komui said, pausing his note taking to adjust his glasses. "But, if you don't mind me asking Miss Karma, do the words 'I must not tell lies' mean anything to you?"

Harriet barely refrained from wincing. Oh Merlin, she should have known that that particular scar would manifest itself into her Anti-Akuma weapon. After all, it had been carved on the back of her right hand through the use of a Blood Quill, which should've been considered Dark Magic (no matter how much the damn Magical Ministry buffoons choose to turn a blind eye on the fact they had allowed to use said quills as a detention assignment for innocent children.) Scars created from Dark Magic didn't disappear over time like regular ones; they remained on a person for the rest of their lives. Even invoking her Parasitic Innocence didn't change that fact apparently.

Harriet sighed, deactivating her Innocence to the mild surprise of the three males in the room with her, "I have a scar on the back of this hand. That would be the reason for it," she reluctantly lifted her hand, displaying the same jagged words which appeared along the edge of the arm-blade carved into her skin.

Kanda barely managed to reign in his killing intent as he stomped down his immediate impulse to snatch her scarred hand and demand an explanation of how she received such an injury (and who he would need to assassinate because there was no way in hell those scars were anything but deliberate.) The Swordsman didn't say anything either – he had an unpleasant feeling that the way this injury came about was part of the reason Alma wanted to keep the return of her memories under wraps.

As it was, Kanda still gave Alma a look, his face taking on an ominous shadowed cast, his midnight eyes glinting with the promise of an interrogation at a later date. His woman had always been surprisingly good at reading his features when they had been children so he knew he wouldn't need to voice his desires out loud. That fact was proven in the way Alma's lips thinned in response even as she inclined her head the slightest bit, silently acquiescing to the inevitable. (Privately, Harriet was worrying about how she would calm the Sword wielder down when the subject of Umbridge finally came up. She didn't think initiating sexual foreplay within sparring sessions would be the best way to go about it this time around because Harriet wasn't entirely sure of how Yuu felt about her now and there was no way in hell she would force herself on him – in some ways that would be tantamount to rape.)

"It also probably means that the God Crystal resides in the back of your hand. After all, there isn't any other identifying factors indicating to where the Innocence had been imbedded," Komui said, pretending to not notice their little exchange while also choosing to not press for answers (Renee, Bak, and Zhu Mei would probably do enough of that when they would eventually catch sight of the worrying scar.)

"If that would be the case then it would be another similarity that your Innocence would share with Allen's Crown Clown," Komui briefly gave Kanda and Tokusa pointed looks as he turned and set his paperwork down next to his Coffee Mug, "But just to be sure…"

Komui rummaged through one of the nearby cabinets and came back a moment later with a shot of Anesthesia and a very ominous looking contraption that resembled a cross between a drill and a laser.

"Would you mind invoking your Innocence once more Miss Karma? This particular Anesthesia mix works much better when the Anti-Akuma weapon is active," there was a glint of boyish glee in Komui's dark brown eyes as he said this, as if he were a child who was about to play his favorite game. That glint was making Harriet suddenly feel very uneasy.

The Swordsman sitting beside her noticed her anxiety easily and reacted accordingly.

"Komui," Kanda's voice held a menacing steely quality that even had Tokusa being forced to hold back an uncharacteristic wince, "There shouldn't be any need to check this kind of thing right away. Besides, Alma just woke up. I hardly think – "

"It's okay," the green eyed young woman in question suddenly piped up. Kanda felt the hand he had in his grasp squeeze his own in reassurance, a vice versa of what he had done back in Komui's Office when Alma had been so alarmed at first in the face of Komui's overwhelming sister-complex.

Kanda scowled at her but there was no real animosity behind it, "Alma…" he paused, unsure on how exactly he should phrase his thoughts.

To be perfectly and very bluntly honest, Kanda knew Alma was more broken than she was making herself out to be. Oh she was hiding it exceedingly well and considering her circumstances pertaining to the Black Order's involvement in her loss of sanity that lead to the massacre nine years ago and her imprisonment since then, the Swordsman was achingly proud of how well she was holding herself together in the face of waking up inside the very same Religious Organization whom betrayed and hurt them so god damn much.

Still, even if Alma presented herself with strength and conviction it still didn't change the fact that she needed time to recover. The short but painfully emotional breakdown she had when she caught sight of her Innocence in its rawest form – the weapon she had used during the massacre – proved that fact.

Alma needed time to heal the wounds in her heart. Kanda knew this intimately because nine years ago, when he had finally broken free of Laboratory 6, bloodstained and carrying a sword both beautiful and terrible – when he had stood underneath a vibrant blue sky that stretched endlessly above him, one he had previously never seen before but could still remember… he had been broken. He had been shattered very nearly beyond repair. It was only thanks to the support of Noise Marie and Froi Tiedoll that he had been able to pick himself up and continue on his journey to find his lost love.

The lost love who he had finally found, broken and battered in ways that may never fully heal, but still found.

Nobody could blame him for being a bit overprotective. Especially when the Chief Officer's operational methods could only be described as… traumatic for lack of a better word. Alma didn't need anymore trauma.

In the end though, it was ultimately her choice whether or not Komui could operate on her arm. After having so much taken from them by the Black Order the last thing Kanda wanted to do was take away Alma's right to choose things for herself.

"Are you sure that you'll be alright with this?" Kanda finally asked, more resigned than anything else.

Alma swallowed nervously, eyeing the drill/laser contraption in the Chief Officer's hand with no little apprehension, before looking back at Kanda with a somewhat reassuring smile that wasn't all that convincing. "Yeah I'll be fine, I think."

Kanda eyed her with the disbelieving skepticism her comment deserved, "You think?"

The Witch inwardly sighed in exasperated fondness. To be truthful, she did genuinely appreciate Yuu's concern over her health but Harriet had been taking care of herself long before she ever met him in their first lives. Enduring pain was a skill she had mastered from her childhood where getting beaten up by her cousin was an unfortunate common occurrence. "Let me ask you this then. Do you trust Komui?"

Tokusa arched an eyebrow at the seemingly unrelated question while both Komui and Kanda looked equally surprised (although Kanda quickly concealed his own surprise with his signature scowl.) A few seconds of somewhat tense silence passed before the Sword wielder finally gave an answer.

"I do," Kanda allowed grudgingly, "but every time he builds a machine that causes mass destruction on an epic scale or creates an experiment that causes us to turn into freaking zombies that trust is called into question and I'm more inclined to inquire about his sanity more than anything else."

Komui shot him a shocked but pleased look that the Swordsman stubbornly refused to acknowledge. This was actually the first time Kanda had ever claimed to trust… well… anyone.

Harriet huffed a laugh at his response, "Well I don't see any giant robots in the vicinity and I haven't caught sight of anything remotely zombie-like lurking anywhere since I woke up so I don't think there is any problem with Komui operating on my arm. It looks its safe for him to confirm where exactly my Innocence has been imbedded. Besides, I want to be sure of this as well."

Kanda grunted noncommittally and rather than arguing with Alma, as he would have typically done with anyone else, he instead gave Komui a gimlet stare, "You are only checking the location of the Innocence. No fucking experiments. If Alma so much as breathes a word of her arm feeling odd after this is finished, it will be your head that will roll, comprende?"

Komui showed admirable backbone by not even flinching at the Swordsman's very serious threat, "Comprende, now Alma would you mind activating your Innocence?"

Harriet nodded and did just that. She had to hide a wince though when Komui administered the Anesthesia before activating his custom made Surgical Device. She seriously hoped that she wouldn't regret this.

000

They had finally proven that the Innocence really was imbedded in the back of her hand – there was now a faint green glimmer shining from the jagged scars on the back of her hand ever since Komui confirmed it. Though Alma looked equally green around the gills as they left the Examination room to visit Hevlaska's chamber.

Tokusa didn't bother asking if she would be okay – the answer was pretty obvious and he would end up receiving a dark glare from the Swordsman who was currently keeping the woman steady with a hand on her hip if he even tried asking.

Instead he contemplated on how Alma's presence had influenced Kanda's behaviour.

From what Tokusa had read from the reports he had received from Howard on the various staff and the Exorcists, the Swordsman had never been so… open with anyone in the Black Order before. The closet thing that Howard had described as civil interaction was when Kanda was with Noise Marie but even if their relationship could be seen as mutual respect and camaraderie, which was given hesitantly on Kanda's part, the Swordsman barely ever opened up at all when he was with the other Exorcist.

Howard had described Kanda as a closed off Individual who kept everyone at arms length and from what Tokusa had observed during the disastrous mission at the Jordan camp, he was inclined to agree.

Only now, after witnessing Kanda comfort the green eyed young woman along with a confession of actually trusting someone who worked for the Organization he obviously hated so much… Tokusa could only draw one conclusion for the reason behind the Swordsman's uncharacteristic actions.

Kanda was just as in love with Alma as she was with him.

It was as simple as that. Most people would call the reason far too sappy for someone like Kanda but Tokusa was never one to brush something off just because it seemed too impossible to be true.

The Third Exorcist couldn't help the surge of envy that welled up inside him at seeing the relationship between the two Second Exorcists. After all, the only experience he had with that kind of love had so far been unrequited.

Briefly, a vision of blue hair framing a stoic face, which only showed true emotion among those who are considered family flashed up in his mind before he mentally shook it off. They had finally reached the lift that would take them to Hevlaska so this was no time to be thinking of those sorts of thoughts.

000

As the floating lift descended into darkness, Harriet was finally able to shake off her nausea and stand on her own.

Ugh, she was never going to damage her Innocence ever. Not when the Witch now knew that Komui was the one who was in charge of fixing it. Hopefully her Regenerative Core would be sufficient enough as a way to repair her Anti-Akuma weapon if she did ever break it.

Several levels of Headquarters flew past her vision until the lift finally stopped its drop in a place where Harriet could only see a few floating candles illuminating the darkness.

She stiffened when several lights flashed on across from the lift, perfectly highlighting the intimidating silhouettes of five figures that sat in thrones above them. Their features may have been hidden in shadows but Harriet was very aware of their intense gazes on her person. The vague memory she still had of her first initiation provided her with the identity of these figures.

The five Great Generals.

"Once again God has graced us with his presence by bringing us a new Exorcist…"

"These people are our bosses; they are the five Great Generals," Komui introduced, completely unaware of Harriet already knowing this little fact.

The Chief Officer gave her a serious stare that was mildly unsettling even with the comforting presence of Yuu at her side, "Now show these people your worth towards the cause."

That was the only warning Harriet was given before she received the shock of her life.

The young woman yelped in alarm as ghost-like appendages promptly wrapped themselves around her waist. The ground fell away from beneath her feet as she came face to face with a person she never thought she would see again.

Harriet's breath hitched as she stared up at the towering form of the being that she had genuinely considered to be a treasured friend and a reliable comrade before she ended up becoming an Experiment for the Second Exorcist Project.

Hevlaska, Protector of the Cube and Keeper of the Unsynchronized Innocence.

Relief washed through the Witch at seeing her old friend alive and well, but panic overflowed over the brief reassurance of her comrade's safety a split second later.

Harriet prayed that Hevlaska wouldn't give any indication of remembering her. No matter how much those memories of visiting the other Exorcist whenever she had free time to discuss missions and life in general were precious to her; No matter how much she treasured the feeling of contentment she had felt at being able to connect with a person who also felt an overwhelming aching loneliness in this world – although for different reasons. Harriet's reason being the knowledge of her separation from all the people she cared about from her old world hanging over her head while Hevlaska's reason was from the fact that her Innocence forced her into a immortal life where she had to watch her fellow Exorcists come and go on life threatening missions, sometimes – inevitably – returning only in a cross emblazoned black coffin.

No matter how much all of that was precious to Harriet, she really didn't want the Head Honchos of the Black Order to switch their focus from the fact they gained another Exorcist to the mystery of her origins. Right now all of their attention was on their primary concern of finding the Heart before the Earl and their secondary concerns of finding new Accommodators, ordering their Subordinates to find other Innocence shards and destroying the Noah Clan along with their ever-increasing Akuma armies. There was no need to enlighten this Religious Organization of something as… informative as her life before she became an Exorcist.

Besides, the Bastards in Central wouldn't be able to interrogate (re: torture) her past out of her without concrete evidence of someone actually remembering said past. As long as no one gave any sign of recalling her life before the Second Exorcist Project then no one would take an interest in Harriet beyond the fact that she was an Accommodator with an incredible talent in Sorcery.

It also helped that the Higher-ups rarely ever cared for the Exorcists beyond the fact that they could be used as malleable tools in their Biblical War – In other words, they only see Accommodators as 'Human Sacrifices offered by God'.

"Do not… be afraid," Hevlaska said, cutting through Harriet's thoughts and her panic easily, especially when the Witch noticed the secretive little smile on the other Exorcist's face. That smile alone told her that Hevlaska would keep silent about their shared past. Harriet finally relaxed in the other woman's hold. "Harming you is not… even on my list of priorities."

"What do you think of this one Hevlaska?" Komui's voice drifted up from far below, "Does this Apostle meet your exact level of standards?"

Hevlaska hummed as she twisted more ghost-like appendages around Harriet's right arm and encased the limb in a spectral cage likened grasp, "We shall see…"

'Ugh, I had forgotten how god-awful it felt to have Hevlaska probing my insides,' was all Harriet had time to think before Hevlaska lifted her higher to press their foreheads together.

000

Light bathed the entire chamber as Hevlaska pressed her forehead to Alma's.

Kanda watched on silently from his place on the floating lift. The Swordsman could admit to being severely annoyed with Komui for not giving Alma a better warning for this but he also understood that getting a surprise examination from Hevlaska was basic protocol for new Exorcists.

Finally deciding to punch the living daylights out of the Chief Officer later if Alma was accidentally hurt during this, Kanda resumed listening for the dark haired woman's Synchronization rate.

"…27% …40% …56% …75% …89% …91%"

The light from their contact dimmed. Hevlaska finally lifted her head away from Alma and carefully set the young green-eyed woman back onto the platform where Kanda was waiting somewhat impatiently where he stood beside Komui and Tokusa.

"91% is your maximum Synchronization… with your Anti-Akuma weapon," the Cube's Protector announced calmly.

"Well that certainly explains how you were able to hold your own so well against all those Level-4 Akuma," Tokusa commented, a calculating gleam entering his eyes as he continued to wear that mildly disturbing Cheshire grin, "You're nearly at Critical Rate."

While Kanda glowered at him for his obvious attempt to fish for more information, Harriet only gave the Third Exorcist invalid a half smile, one that was equal parts sweet and bitter, "It only proves the strength of my resolve, Tokusa. Nothing more, nothing less."

Komui spoke up again to the towering form of the Cube's Protector, effectively cutting off any more inquiries, "Hevlaska, did you feel anything else from Alma's Innocence?"

A moment of still silence passed before Hevlaska's ethereal tones resonated throughout the chamber.

"Alma Karma… that which has chained you in bearing the fate of a Saviour… has not yet released its possessive grasp on your being. When the time comes… your Innocence shall become the catalyst to revealing the truth by… bringing you back to where Magic is Might… Remain vigilant and keep close to your heart as you continue to fight… May God guide you safely through the path of an Exorcist and beyond."

Harriet stared at Hevlaska with wide eyes; hearing the shadowed meanings behind her cryptic words – which no one else in this Akuma infested world could possibly understand – loud and clear.

Hidden meanings she decided to contemplate later (and possibly discuss with Yuu once they had the chance to speak privately) as Komui stepped towards her.

The Chief Officer gave her a smile that didn't detract from the considering gleam in his dark brown eyes, "Well, that's just about it for your initiation. Lets fight together to save this world. Just to warn you though – the pay will be pretty lousy." He added half-jokingly as one hand was outstretched – a physical extension of asking for her trust.

Green eyes side-glanced into the Midnight orbs of the Swordsman standing beside her. An entire conversation happened in those few seconds before Alma looked back at Komui.

Taking the Chief Officer's hand in an unsaid agreement of given trust, she shook it firmly. Green eyes sharpened in unyielding resolve as she smiled in a strange mix of both resigned and wry, "I'll help in any way I can to end this War once and for all."

"Glad to hear it. Welcome to the Black Order, Alma Karma."

000

*Dàgē is the Chinese version of Aniki or Nii-san. Since Komui and Lenalee are from China I decided to go with that.

(1)Watch episode 102 or read chapter 152 and you'll understand.

(2)See link on profile.