You guys are the best, you know that? Last chapter had the highest ever number of hits. I'm so excited. This story has over 2,200 hits so far! Im no where near done, either. THANK YOU! This chapter is kind of for my sister, Margaret-Ann, who'll be at camp for the next 7 chapters while I get to be an only child. Review, child!
Krystal: So, when we left off with that ridiculous cliffhanger, General Tiedoll, Daisya, Kanda and I were being attacked by a swarm of akuma. I saw Kanda get shot by one of the akuma, and screamed. Is that an apt summary?
Yes it is. Good job.
Krystal: Any time.
Disclaimer: I drew Knada for the forst time yesterday. Do you think I could mass-produce a wildly successful manga? no. Therefore, I don't own anything.
The air around her shattered. The vines embracing her were blown away, exposing the lightning-torn sky. Pieces of ruined akuma hurtled to the ground as they were shattered by the blast.
Krystal's chest heaved as the vines around her were drawn back into General Tiedoll's Innocence. She looked up, scanning the pitted, smoky field. Two silhouettes limped through the fog.
Daisya appeared, supporting a pale Kanda on his shoulder. He looked around, "What was that? Who screamed?"
General Tiedoll pointed at Krystal, who was still panting on the ground, drenched in sweat.
"K-Krystal?" Daisya asked, astonished, "bu-but how?" He turned to her, "You can speak?"
Krystal looked up, unsure, "I-I guess so." Her voice was soft and unaccented, a bit lower than a soprano. She marveled at the sound, "I-I can talk."
Kanda stirred on Daisya's shoulder, "General, do you think it's Innocence?"
General Tiedoll looked at Krystal, who was standing shakily; leaning on Daisya's other shoulder. "It's a definite possibility," he observed, "I think we need to get to the Order as fast as possible. There's a town about a mile away with a train station. In this situation, we need to get there quickly." Daisya nodded and Kanda stood up, no longer leaning on Daisya, but still rather pale. The General looked at Kanda, "Are you ok?"
Kanda rolled his shoulder once, exposed by the jacket torn by the Akuma. "I'm fine."
The General nodded, "Let's go."
The town was moderately sized, big enough to support a train station and a small hospital, but not large enough to be called a "city". General Tiedoll said that the next train that would tale them through Belgium to Dunkerque, France would be arriving in a half hour.
Daisya and Krystal sat on one of the red painted benches in the train station. Kanda disappeared and returned five minutes later with three steaming paper cups. He gave one to Daisya and the other to Krystal, "The only thing the vendor had was Earl Grey, but it will at least keep you awake."
Daisya raised his cup, "Cheers."
Krystal stared at her feet and raised her hand to her lips, thinking to sign her thanks, but caught herself and muttered, "Thank you."
Kanda shrugged, "You should probably use your voice a bit more."
Krystal ignored him ands reached over her shoulder to grab her flute, but her bag was missing. "My bag," she said, dismayed.
Daisya looked up, "It must have gotten caught in the crossfire," he said.
Krystal smacked her forehead and groaned, "My flute was in it. It's probably destroyed."
Daisya put a hand on her shoulder, "It's ok. Be grateful you got out alive."
"About that," Kanda said, drinking his tea, "what happened back there?"
"You know, I was wondering the same thing," Daisya turned to Krystal, "do you remember what happened, what you were thinking?"
"The akuma started gathering," she started, "and I felt this burning in my chest, like I couldn't breathe. My lungs were on fire," she grew short of breath remembering the cold fear that settled in her chest. "I started coughing up blood and General Tiedoll put up that shield. The blood kept coming and I felt dizzy. I really thought I was going to die there. I remembered all my friends who died and thought I was going to see them. Then I wasn't dizzy and saw Kanda get shot. I was so scared; I didn't know what to do. I screamed." She finished, then looked up at Kanda, "You were shot."
Kanda shrugged it off and drank his tea, examining the arrival times for the trains.
Krystal stood up, pointing at him, "You were shot. By an akuma. You didn't die." She remembered the piles of dust at her house and the circus.
"Would you rather I died?" he asked.
"No," she explained, "but…you…the bullets…"
"My body is immune to the akuma virus," he said shortly.
Krystal opened her mouth to respond, but General Tiedoll called them, saying the train had arrived.
The conductor showed them to a private, first class carriage. General Tiedoll sat next to the window with Krystal sitting across from him. Daisya and Kanda sat by the door, with Kanda next to Krystal and Daisya seated by the General.
The mostly empty train pulled out of the station as the setting sun peeked out from the rainclouds. The horizon lit up briefly before being darkened by the coming night. The scenery of trees and warm-colored tulips as they passed into Belgium was replaced by Krystal's own reflection.
She hadn't changed much since she left the circus. She fingered the split ends on her hair. Maybe she was a bit dirtier and paler than before, but she looked the same. On the inside, though, was a different story. Over the past month she had matured and become more independent. Here lilac eyes stared back at her in the window. They seemed clearer and deeper that they had been before.
"What are you staring at?" Kanda's voice cut through he thoughts. "It's been dark for an hour and you've been staring out the window.
Krystal looked up. Daisya was dozing against the wall of the compartment and General Tiedoll was sketching Athens from memory. Krystal shrugged, "Just daydreaming, I guess."
"Tch," Kanda turned to her, "you just found out that you could talk after fifteen years, and you spend an hour and a half daydreaming?"
Krystal turned to face him, folding her knees against her chest, "I guess I'm not used to talking, so I don't know what to say. I miss my flute, though. I felt like I could talk through it."
"Try humming," Daisya muttered, half-asleep, "it's kind of the same."
Krystal leaned her back against the window and wrapper her arms around her knees. She closed her eyes and imagined herself back at the gypsy cam with Leonata. She listened, and could almost hear the guitar. She hummed to herself, remembering the lively dancing around the fire.
General Tiedoll's pencil stopped recreating Athens and he looked up, "You have a beautiful voice, Krystal. It's a shame that it's been quiet for fifteen years."
Patches of pink appeared on her cheeks and she smiled, "Thank you," she said, unconsciously signing at the same time.
The train clattered over a bridge, water underneath them sparkling in the moonlight. General Tiedoll looked out at the window, "Another hour, I think. We're in France now. A finder will be waiting for us on the beach in Dunkerque who will take us to the Order from there."
Kanda and Daisya nodded. Krystal shifted in her seat, looking out the window. She had never actually travelled this far west before. The circus had been in Hamburg once, but that was as far as she had gone. The lights of Dunkeque grew in the distance. Soon, a sprawling coast town materialized around them. The train station was elegant, with white plaster walls and green trim around the ceiling.
The conductor called for the passengers to disembark. Kanda slid open the door and exited, followed by Daisya. Krystal stood up and was met by a swooning sensation. She leaned against the cool window for support.
General Tiedoll looked at her nervously, "Are you ok?"
Krystal blinked a few times, clearing the dots from her vision. "I'm fine," she said. She stepped off the train and looked around. The streets were lit with lanterns casting long shadows. In the distance, waves crashed on a beach.
Daisya turned onto a main street, "The shore is this way," he said.
Krystal looked up at the stars twinkling in the night sky. She felt blood rush to her head and felt dizzy again, so she returned her gaze to the street. A thought struck her, "What day is it?"
General Tiedoll thought, "Hmmm…Is should be August twenty-second," a church bell chimed in the distance, "I stand corrected. It's August twenty-third."
Krystal laughed. It was warm, rich laugh filled with genuine mirth. Kanda looked at her, "What's so funny?"
Krystal wiped a tear from here eye, "Today is August twenty-third. It's my sixteenth birthday."
"Happy birthday," Daisya said as he jumped off the sidewalk and into a sand dune. "Let's hope that finder has a lantern."
Sure enough, a glimmer of golden light appeared near the water's edge. A man dressed in a white robe was holding a lantern in one hand and a mooring rope in the other. "General Tiedoll," he called, "good to see you."
The General adjusted his glasses, "Jeremy, is that you?"
The young man had sparkling blue eyes and sandy blonde hair. He grinned, "Komui sent me out here to fetch you." He motioned to the small motorboat floating on the waves, "The Channel is calm tonight. It should be a smooth ride."
The General nodded, "Well, let's go. We need to get there before daybreak."
"Of course," the finder nodded.
The boat rocked very little as the lights of France drifted farther away. Krystal looked back one more time, but was overcome with dizziness again. She clutched her head and leaned forward.
"Are you alright, Miss Krystal?" Jeremy asked.
"Mhmm," Krystal muttered, "I'm a bit dizzy, that's all."
"Perhaps you should close your eyes," he suggested, "not everyone is fit for sea travel, especially the Channel on its best days."
Krystal's balance didn't return, however. She leaned over and splashed the cool saltwater on her face. She woke up a bit and got salt in her eyes, but she still remained dizzy. Jeremy soaked a towel in the water and advised her to lay down. In the small boat, there was little room for her to lay down, but after some shuffling, she rested her head on Kanda's legs.
"Sorry," she murmured, grinning weakly.
"Don't apologize," he said, "you look awful."
"Thanks," she said drily.
After two hours, the boat bumped into a dock in a secluded cove in the face of a looming cliff. Jeremy roped the boat to the dock and helped the General off. Daisya leapt off after him, leaving Kanda and Krystal on the boat. She sat up, peeling the cloth off her forehead.
She leaned heavily on Jeremy as she disembarked, wobbling a bit as she stepped onto the dock. The dock led to a small entrance which opened to a long flight of stairs. Krystal looked up the steps, wondering how high they went when her knees gave out from under her. She collapsed against the doorway, leaning heavily on a very surprised Daisya.
She breathed heavily, "I can do this," she panted, cold sweat rolling down her neck.
A third of the way up the flight of stairs, her legs went completely numb. She fell backwards, but found herself caught by Kanda. General Tiedoll turned to her, "Can you walk?"
She tried to stand up, but her legs could not support her anymore. She felt dizzy and collapsed against Kanda. Her hair stuck to her face and her hands trembled. She felt a pair of hands under her arms, "Can you stand?" asked Kanda.
She held onto his shoulders and tested standing on her own, "Kind of," she determined.
They continued up the flight of stairs, Kanda half-supporting, half-carrying her. Finally, they reached a door emblazoned wit the same cross on the uniforms the exorcists wore. Jeremy knocked once, paused, and knocked twice more.
The door opened into a grand entrance hall with a high, vaulted ceiling and tall Roman columns. Krystal followed one of the pillars up to the ceiling, but her sense of vertigo returned, spots appearing in front of her eyes.
She heard a voice call from across the hall, "General Tiedoll, we weren't expecting you for another few days."
"Yes, Komui," the General replied, "but this girl needs immediate medical attention and I think she might be an accommodator."
The man, presumably Komui, appeared in Krystal's vision, his dark eyes concerned, "Are you ok, miss?"
Krystal swayed where she stood and managed to say, "Not really," before the dark spots clouded her vision and she passed out.
Whoops, another cliffhanger. SORRY! Don't worry. Next time, we get to meet Lavi, Lenalee and Komui (for real). Keep reading!
So, I realized I failed to make the poll concerning Kanda's golem visible on my profile. Fail. I fixed it, so please vote for what Krystal will name Kanda's golem.
See you next week!
~~BJ