Another one! Another one! Yay! xD
Thanks go to:
-sky of c-o-l-o-r-s for the awesome review. For being the first to do so this is dedicated to you. And I'll also answer some of your questions ;)
-Vertan Yamamoto for the follow and fav, thanks a lot sweetheart :D
And now to the thing you all came for!
Chain Nine: A Cost of Decisions
Celia bend over to wash her face on the washbasin of the bathroom. Splashing water on her face she glanced up to see herself. Her hair fell precariously before her face and her bright amethyst eyes shone through exposing themselves. The only thing brighter than her eyes was the ruby, diamond-shaped scar on her chest, right between her breasts.
She heaved a sigh at her own mind trying to think too much. The information that Janus had given them about the 21 Sacraments what's a mouthful to swallow. Even now she was having trouble processing that much. All she understood from that was that unless they stopped Evangelique from making Asutsuo sacrifice himself into becoming the new 'god', she would become immortal. Not only that but she also remembered what Kanda had told her after that. Just when Janus had fallen asleep he took her outside the hall to speak to her away from suspicious ears.
"You understood what he said back there, right?" was the first thing he asked.
"I'm not dumb, you fucker," she cussed a little pissed about all this surrounding the people she loved or had at least once loved.
"Then do you get what will happen if that mother of his, with the purpose she has in mind, gets an immortal body from the midget?"
His question was straight forward, as always, and made Celia think for a bit. Then she remembered what Janus had said and to what Kanda had responded. "She intends to destroy the Order."
"Including the Exorcists. All of them. If the Exorcists and every last member of the Order is gone then in the end there won't be anybody to stop the Millennium Earl," he continued in a haste.
"And the Noahs and he will be able to do as they please, bringing forth the Three Days of Darkness again," Celia said finally getting it.
Celia's thoughts came back to then and couldn't believe it. One small action, the littlest decision, could most possibly destroy the entire world and send it back to darkness.
"That's basically how the whole world functions, darling." Celia heard Ambrose's voice inside her head. Looking into the mirror, she could see his transparent form leaning against the left wall of the bathroom. "Even the slightest decision from any living being in this place had a great impact on not only their lives but also in the whole world's. Say, for example, that the Order hadn't existed then the sixth laboratory in the Asian Branch wouldn't have existed. Which would've, in turn, cause that none of you five, you , Kanda, Alma, Alice, or Janus, to have been born. Overall, you have to be careful with what you decide because even your own decisions have a great effect on the world."
"It's almost like causing a war by throwing a rock," Celia said summarizing it all. "Even a stupid decision can result fatal for everybody."
Ambrose's body completely materialized behind her. "Which is why you have to be careful with what you disclose with others, specially about what I tell you. I'm from another time and place, the only reason I'm here is because I was contained in you by your mother."
"Talking about disclosing, when are you telling me how to turn back into a human," Celia deadpanned letting her bangs obscure her eyes from him.
Ambrose groaned loudly and let his head fall back. "I told you that I will but first you must get rid of the virus that still lingers in you."
"What virus?" Celia called finally turning to him and piercing him with her eyes. "I thought I was a pure being. Didn't Janus say it himself? I'm an Apocryphos, are't I?"
"Not a complete one." At seeing her confused expression he further explained. "You're not utterly independent, you still need an accomodator to activate yourself. If you're not completely an Apocryphos then you aren't completely free of the virus either."
"But Hevraska said that my body showed no traces of the virus. Where-"
"What is the only thing that you have from the old you from before?" he inquired to her. She looked at him perplexed while squinting her eyes. He came closer and tapped her forehead twice.
She grabbed it, deep in thought, and understood, "My memories?"
"It's illogical that such human engineering came to such level of thinking. Seeing its imminent destruction inside your body, it hid and incubated where it knew it would survive. In embedded itself in your brain cells where your memory is stored and remained there until you regained another corporeal body. Now that you have, it's fighting it's way against Albus and I to gain control of your body anew. It's weak but it multiplies quickly. It'll take time but if it isn't stopped you will return to the state that you were before, on the verge of death." He leaned back against the wall, "This is why I need you to cure yourself first. If you don't and you return to being a human. It'll be the same."
"But how though?" Celia called not knowing what to do. "You told me that the dead would serve as my cure but what dead?"
"The same that Asutsuo has used as sacrifices," Ambrose gently put it.
Celia's eyes cringed a bit but then slowly widened, "Who...Who has he killed already?"
Ambrose sighed and closed his eyes, "Lily, Bagira, and Marcus."
Celia remained quiet for a few seconds and lowered her head. Even though she didn't believe she sent a small prayer for they're well being. Wherever they might be. Without knowing, her lips had began to mumble a little tune. It was the same melody that she use time and again back when she was an Exorcist in order to liberate the souls of the Lost Ones.
When she was finished, she simply took her bead bracelet she had taken off to not wet it and turned to Ambrose. "I'll follow you for now but if I even sense you crossing me, I'll stop this at once."
"Only fair," Ambrose said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Evangelique has caused too much suffering already. I won't let her continue it, no matter what," she confessed. She went for the door before she heard him speak one last time before disappearing.
"Well said. I've always thought that only those who've payed the price should be allowed to play. And the way I see it, all of ya'll already have." With that last comment he disappeared.
Stepping out of the bathroom, Celia instantly noticed Kanda's absence from the place. She turned to Johnny and asked him, "And Kanda?"
"He stepped out just now," Johnny answered.
Celia heaved a stressed sigh and massaged her neck, "I'll go get him."
"Are you sure?" Johnny asked a bit puzzled. "He's sure to come back though. Why not just wait?"
"Yeah, he'll come back but we can't say that he won't get in trouble," Celia turned to him with a wry smile with the doorknob in her hand. "Don't worry. I'll bring him back with no problem."
With that Celia left closing the door behind herself. She pulled on the hood of the small, short-sleeved jacket before putting her hands in the pockets. Once outside, she rubbed her hands against her arms. It was strangely cold out tonight. Shoving her hands back and tucking her arms close to her body she walked off following her instincts that would, no doubt, lead her to him.
It was odd to her how she could find him, like a hound sniffing out a scent given to it. But she guessed that came with her body being so hypersensitive, overly so with anything having to do with that guy.
She wondered what exactly had happened between them. Yeah, she'd seen her old memories and sure, she'd even kissed him back then. All that was because she felt secure by his side. He seemed to be her safe port not only now but seemingly back then as well.
She breathed out and saw white smoke empty from her mouth. It was cold. Too cold, actually. A sudden crackling made her head turn up towards a street sign that was covered completely in an ice cap.
"What the..."
Hearing a crackling from behind her, she saw as a trail of frost began to cover the way she'd come from.
"Let it freeze." Celia's sense shook with the sound of the coherent voice. Suddenly from the corner came a body. Slender but tall and toned, it seemed to be the body of a strong woman. The difference any she'd seen was that this one was a silver color. With every step it took, it froze most of the floor and its surroundings.
"A Lost Silva," Celia's voice barely mumbled. She knew those. Humans turned into killing machines when infected with the virus.
"Freeze!" the silver mutant screeched flinging her arm at Celia letting out icicles at her. Jumping out of the way, she heard at they went through the wall behind her.
Sturdy, she thought. Way stronger than normal ice.
"Freeze, freeze, freeze!" it called sending now a myriad of them towards Celia.
Turning to corner she took a run for it barely avoiding a couple. She knew this was all she could do since she couldn't summon Xiao without Kanda's say so. Shit, it just happened that the one time she needed the brute he disappeared.
Turning another corner she bumped into someone. Quickly looking up, she heaved a relief when she met those cobalt irises.
"Damn it. Can I get no space?" Kanda scowled at her.
"No time!" Celia yelled and grabbed Kanda's hand letting his powers activate her. Spinning around on her heels, she drew Xiao's kwan dao form from thin air just in time to see the ice freak come from where she had.
Jumping out of the way of projectiles, Celia bounced off from a nearby wall and went after the mutts legs. Screeching in a high pitched voice, it slumped to the ground. Celia quickly stabbed it making it give a last scream before turning into dust.
Celia panted tired of running all around from avoiding it. Stabbing her weapon on the floor, she shattered the ice floor that blocked their path.
"A mutt?" Kanda called seeing as the dust got carried away by the breeze.
"Yeah. And thanks to your royal ass, I had to come running to you when I couldn't do crap," Celia complained.
"You're fault," Kanda answered, brushing off her argument while he started to walk away.
"My fau-What?!" Celia yelled letting Xiao disappear. "For what I remember, that I'm like this is your fucking fault!"
"Huh?" Johnny called hearing shuffling from behind him. Janus was getting up from the bed as he gather his things. "Janus-san, you shouldn't be moving around?"
"I'll be fine," Janus assured. "I need to leave."
"Wouldn't it be better to stay here to be by Celia-san's side?" Johnny asked him.
"It sounds like the better idea but it's completely the wrong one," Janus said getting to the door. "Hoards of Lost Souls will gather is they sense, more than three similar powers in a single area. It's the same reason why Gazelle wanted to leave as well. Celia is well protected, she has Kanda after all. If I stay, I'll just lead the enemy here." Janus smiled, "If she asks, you can tell her that." Leaving, he closed the door behind him.
A few moments later, Johnny began to heard murmuring in front of him.
"Did you wake up, Mana?"
As they walked back to the inn, Kanda remained steps ahead from Celia. She, on the other hand, didn't mind the space. She was still thinking plenty of others things.
"Hey, Kanda?" No answer from him. "Kanda?" She raised her voice a touch more. She growled, "Hey, Bakanda!"
"What do you want." He just put it out there, not even a polite question.
Celia walked glancing down, "You heard what Janus said, right?"
"Kind of hard not to."
His sarcasm wasn't really helping with what she wanted to ask. Yet she swallowed her pride because this was really bothering her, "Well, do you really think the only way of stopping Evangelique is to destroy all trace of the virus?"
Kanda stayed silent for a moment before heaving an annoyed sigh and answering, "It seems that way."
Celia didn't raise her face and said, "Then I'll have to be destroyed too then." A few seconds later she stumbled yet again with a firm figure. Glancing up, she flinched at the expression of those cobalt eyes.
"Why?" he simply asked.
"I'm not cured," Celia answered directly knowing exactly what he referred to.
"You're Innocence, of course you're-"
"My memories, Kanda!" she yelled getting tired of his pigheadedness. "It's my memories. They came back to me but they didn't come back by themselves. They're infected. So I'm still sick. I'm still dying." Kanda remained silent. Celia glanced up to him awaiting his response. He simple 'tched' and kept walking. What? That's it?! She ran up to his side, "What? Do you not care at all what happens to me?"
"It won't happen."
"What?" Celia repeated.
"I won't let you die," he said boring his eyes at her own. He turned and mutter, "Not again."
Celia stayed in place looking at his back as he walked away. Kanda was such a douche bag. He was such a jackass. He was such an idiot and many more things and he also had hope. Something that she was seriously lacking; something she used to have that she'd seen from her memories. She used to be bold and so daring. What had happened?
"You died, kiddo. Things like that change people," Ambrose answered her.
But no, sh refused to accept that. She could be bold and daring, she was brave herself. She had just forgotten how but seeing Kanda so reminded her of what she was and what she could still be. She smiled and skipped up to him seeing as they were already inside the inn.
"Don't get too close, kid. When the time comes, you'll have to choose the best of the two."
'What?' Celia inquired when Ambrose made an odd comment. Kanda was walking in front of her in the hallway of where their little room was. But when Kanda's hand touched the doorknob his intent changed radically giving Celia a very ominous feeling and when Kanda bust open the door drawing Mugen out, it didn't help.
"What are you doing?" Celia called running up to him and pulling onto his forearm but to no avail.
"You..." Celia stopped as soon as she heard Kanda speak. "14th!?"
Celia looked at Allen, whom she'd barely notice was awake, and looked into his eyes. She shivered at the feeling they sent. They didn't have the warmness that they used to, that she knew. They were different, they just weren't the same. Letting go of Kanda, a question slowly surfaced into her mind.
If Allen was awake...where was Johnny?
The sudden raged yelling from them didn't distract her from her question as she scanned the room. Mutterings made her attention go to the other bed where Janus wasn't lying down but in his stead was Johnny's semiconscious figure.
"Kanda..." She didn't really have to say a word for Kanda had noticed too and was already on his way there. She stared blankly as Kanda tried to make Johnny drink his blood. That's right, his blood could cure injuries although in its current state it was hard to tell just how much.
Meanwhile, Celia turned to Allen's confused face. "Allen?" Suddenly his face turned into complete pain and distress at hearing Johnny and Kanda. She cocked her head to the side and wondered why he appeared to be like that. When Johnny said that he mistook someone else for Allen, that broke him. Before any sound could leave Celia's mouth Allen had already back away the most he could while activating his misshaped Innocence.
"Don't come near me!"
His exclamation was surprising to say the least since she was the closest to him than any of the three and yet she didn't move either. Examining his face closely, she could see the tears that trickled down his face. Kanda was the first to confront him, was he running away and leaving them behind like he said? But according to Allen that he go alone was the only way.
Celia seriously doubted that.
"Sorry..." Allen said with a wry smile. "I'm really sorry, Johnny."
"Allen!"
"Please, don't come near me," Allen pleaded. His awakening had begun. I have to be alone in order to fight. If I don't leave, things will end up like this again."
"Like this?" Celia repeated no louder than a humble. People getting hurt because of you, being the source of all pain and suffering to the ones you loved. She knew exactly how that felt.
"Yeah, I'm sorry for my mistake," Johnny apologized. Then Johnny offered his help, not as a scientist of the Order but rather...as a friend. His friend. Surprisingly, that made him blush severely. Seeing their opportunity, Kanda yelled at Johnny to get a rope to capture Allen.
"I not taking part in this," Celia called taking a step back as they attempted to tide him up. Lucky for Allen, that bulgy Innocence of his was hard to contain. As the struggled continued, Celia felt a sudden twitch in her left hand. Looking down she noticed how it kept moving by itself.
"What the-"
"Augh!" Allen's sudden screams made Celia snap her head towards them. His Innocence was crackling energy from all over making both Kanda and Johnny stand back.
"What's happening?!" Johnny called from above the noise of the noise. Kanda scowled trying to see the answer as well.
"Overcharge." Ambrose was telling her exactly what it was. "He's two sides colliding are making his Innocence react just like when Albus and the virus reacted in you. It's a rebound."
"AHHH!" Allen's screams of pain intensified along with the energy lashing. Yeah, this had happened to her before. That's when a faint memory came to mind, Alice taking away her Innocence that time when hers ran out of control because of the overcharge of two different sides. They had been disconnected momentarily from each other leaving Celia enough time to recover control. She glanced up at Allen's distressed form, could she do the same with him?
Not thinking it twice, she ran towards Allen.
"Celia!" Kanda yelled but a bit too late for when he had Celia was already embracing Allen's compulsive form. The energy dramatically changed direction from being released to the outside into her own body through her chest. She felt the pain that he had voiced but biting her tongue down she didn't cry out in pain. She wasn't planning on letting him lose control like she had that time. A taste of iron purged her taste buds along with the pain.
"What's she doing?" Johnny called to Kanda.
"Celia! Get away from him!" Kanda yelled trying to get closer but unable to since not all the energy was entering Celia's body.
"C-Celia!" Allen muttered feeling as the overload of energy that had suddenly exploded from his body was now entering her own. "Let go!"
"I won't!" she exclaimed, her voice carrying past the ruckus. She was determined to take all the excess of power from Allen's body. That way he'd have no more rebounds, no more pain.
"Kid, let go of him!" Even Ambrose, but why?
"That's enough!"
Ambrose's sudden retort shocked her mind enough to force her to release Allen from her embrace. Taking a few steps back, the energy emanating from Allen had completely stopped as he slumped down to the ground exhausted and holding to his arm. Celia took another step back as the white energy traveled in and out of her body accommodating itself still. Bending over she rested her hands on her knees gasping loudly and taking deep breaths.
"C-Celia, are you okay?" Allen asked in short breaths concerned from what she had just done.
Celia raised her face to Allen making him gasp. Her eyes, they were changing from her normal amethyst into a grey, then deep red and back again. Was that because of her absorbing his excess energy? In a span of a second, while her eyes changed, they came to normal making her fall forward. Luckily, Kanda sprung up fast enough to catch her. Using him as support, she leaned against him trying to catch her breath.
"Are you crazy!?" Kanda bellowed.
"Maybe," she answered with a small smile holding onto him. She turned to Allen then and with the same smile said, "Are you alright, Allen?"
"Y-Yeah," he answered still confused at her ever changing eyes.
"Good," she said sounding like she had regained some of her energy. Getting up slowly and with a stagger, she walked over to where Johnny's stuff laid. Rummaging through it she found what she was looking for and handed one strange looking handcuff to Kanda. "Put this on him, would you?"
Kanda said nothing and before Allen could run away, he slapped the handcuff on just at the same time that she slapped an identical one on Johnny's wrist.
With a sweet smile she looked at Allen. Seconds later a small beeping was heard and not a moment later did both get electrocuted by a good amount of power. Both looked up at her with confused gazes.
"Now, you won't be going anywhere, will you, Allen?"
Well there it is. Quite fast right?
You guys, this is chapter has a special dedication.
One of my best friends from last year died last Weds. in a car accident :( He was a great guy and awesome friend and I want to dedicate not only this chapter but this and all my stories to come to his memory.
So guys, do me a favor. Go home, be with your family and friends and enjoy your time together. You never know when something might happen. Be wise and most of all be careful.
In memory of a great friend.
J.N.
April 24, 2013.
Gone but never forgotten.
