HEYYYOOO!

CURRENTLY, I'M ENJOYING BEING HOME ALONE. I HAD DANCE THIS WEEK SO I COULDN'T GO TO NH WITH THE FAM. BUT IT'S ALL GOOD, BECAUSE I NEEDED SOME ME TIME, WHICH CONSISTS OF READING, SLEEPING, AND WRITING THIS OF COURSE.

I'M TRYING TO WRITE AS MUCH AS I CAN BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS...BUT ONCE IT DOES, I THINK THAT I WILL UPDATE THIS ONCE A WEEK...SORRY ;_; BUT IT'S JUNIOR YEAR, SO I GOT TO FOCUS...

ANYWAYS...

ENJOY!

~OmGiStHaTaDuMpLiNg~

~With Allen~

The group stared at Allen as the mysterious girl's voice ceased to issue from Timcampy. Kanda couldn't help but smirk as he watched the white-haired teen sport a very troubled expression.

It was really pathetic how a little girl could intimidate someone who was obviously older than her. This was just more proof that the newbie wasn't cut out to be an exorcist. Kanda scoffed as he glared at Allen, who had comical tears running down his face as his golem tried to comfort him.

Frankly, it was like watching a copy of Komui when he was fighting with Lenalee, it was obvious that whoever the girl was, had Allen wrapped around her finger. Kanda scowled as he continued to run beside the group, chasing their oncoming train. He heard the boy scream in shock as they jumped down from the bridge.

Kanda rolled his eyes.

How pathetic.

He was pretty sure that the girl on the phone was exponentially tougher than the wide-eyed teenager who was clinging desperately to the train beside him.

Komui better suffer for pairing him with such a weakling.

~Back At The Order~

"Is this all that I have to do to become a Finder?", Arianna asked, unimpressed, with one delicate eyebrow raised, ignoring the audience that started to form.

Soft mutters spread throughout the crowd as they looked at her with a mixture of curiosity and disbelief. They were in the training room and Arianna found herself surrounded by "mock" akuma that Komui had created.

Honestly, she thought that the "mock" akuma looked absolutely ridiculous.

Each of them was around the same size of a level one akuma, but were more comical unlike their grotesque counterparts. Though, they may have looked stupid to her because each of them wore a small white beret. She tried not to be distracted by the overall hilarity of it all.

Apparently, all she needed to do was to defeat all 20 of them, and she would pass...

"Not quite.."

...

At least, she thought she did.

She glared at the annoying asian man, he just smiled with amusement as his eyes flashed behind his glasses.

"This is but the first of many tests!", he exclaimed before bursting into a series of slightly psychotic laughs. A vein in Arianna's forehead twitched as her audience burst out into similar, mocking laughs.

So they think that she couldn't handle the job, that she was just a weak girl.

Her hands clenched into fists by her sides as she shot them a chilling smile. Many of the people in the first row shivered at her almost murderous aura.

What fools. She, who had survived training under that red-haired bastard of a general...

Weak?! Hah!

"Of course, Sir, how could I be so naïve.", she said in a sickly sweet voice, one that would have made Road proud, as she cracked her knuckles, "...I'll get on it, then."

Komui smiled as he motioned for one of the finder's to give her a barrier device. The young man, threw it over to her, which she caught without even looking at it. He smiled as he watched the girl slowly approach his amazing "mock" akuma.

He didn't know what the general was playing at, demanding that this not even 13-year-old girl to become a finder. The other letter from Cross seemed to burn in his breast pocket, it was almost as short as the one regarding Allen,

She needs this, that brat has a lot to learn.

P.S. She and my idiot apprentice are a package deal.

~Cross

An arm from one of his precious robots flew over, nearly hitting him in the face, successfully jogging him from his thoughts. Komui felt his eyes widen, for a few seconds, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

It looked as if she was dancing, dodging each of their attacks with ease as she trapped them. The calculating look on her face never swayed, even when the last one of the "mock" akuma grabbed her by the hair, causing the barrier device to fall out of her hands and break as it lifted her into the air.

The audience gave a universal intake of breath, leaning in slightly, transfixed on the battle in front of them.

Quick as a flash, with no evidence of hesitation, she pulled out a knife that must have been hidden in her boot and sliced off her hair. She dropped down to the ground gracefully as strands of her hair dropped around her.

She looked up at the robot, a look of absolute loathing in her silver eyes. She ran at it head on, pulling another knife from her boot. Jumping up in the air, she landed on it's back and plunged the two knives into it's back, causing it to go haywire.

The people in the audience had to run away as the robot flew haphazardly into it's comrades, resulting in pieces of meal falling over them. Komui let out a soft cough, trying to get the dusk out of his lungs, as he squinted into the cloud.

They all watched with bated breath as the it started to disappear.

The small figure of the Arianna walked out of the dust, looking rather triumphant. Her hair was now slightly above her shoulders, it curled into a grey bob and bounced as she walked towards Komui.

To his amazement, she only had a few shallow scratches on her skin. In his disbelief, he didn't notice that she was carrying something by her side.

She threw it to him as she gave him a smug smile.

"Next.", she said before walking passed him, running her fingers through her hair, getting rid of the loose strands.

Komui looked down at his hands, she had tossed him one of the "mock" akuma's heads, beret included. From the corner of his eye, he could see the looks of disbelief and awe of his comrades. The group of finders were whispering to one another, most of them looked rather impressed as they stared after her.

Komui smiled.

Things were definitely about to get interesting at the Order.

~With Allen~

After landing not so gracefully on the train, the odd trio were shown to their first class compartment by a very unsettled attendent.

Allen looked around their room with wide eyes, impressed with their treatment. Kanda just sat across from him, his arms crossed with scowl on his face. Allen turned his attention to his report, frowning after a few minutes of reading,

"According to the dossier, we're heading to the ancient city of Mater. I think I remember reading about this place once, it's been in ruins for decades. Our target sounds interesting, the ghost of Mater.", Allen said as he looked up from his pamphlet, "I'm confused, how in the world could a ghost have anything to do with innocence?". Kanda just let out a "Hmph.", not meeting his eye.

Allen stood up, glaring at Kanda,

"Hey! Is that attitude necessary?!", he exclaimed as a vein started to twitch in his forehead. Kanda remained nonchalant as he shot Allen a sideways glance,

"Take a guess."

"You know, you're a jerk!". Suddenly, a voice came from outside of the door, it was the finder that had come with them.

"Unexplained phenomenon are common occurences where innocence exists."

Allen pressed his ear against the door, "Really?", he asked as Timcampy flew around his head.

"Innocence has altered it's own biology, of course, it doesn't happen over night. Most testaments place the timeline from Noah's flood and the present.", the finder said.

He paused for a few seconds before continuing, "This may be due to the crystal's mysterious power trying to communicate with us, or for many other unknown reasons. but it seems that innocence always finds it's way into human hands. the one thing that we still can't figure out is why innocence creates these strange phenomenons."

Allen's brow furrowed in confusion as he thought,

"So, you're saying that the existence of a ghost in Mater could be caused by innocence?", he asked slowly.

"Yes. because where mystery is found, innocence is nearby. That's why the Order enlists finders like myself to conduct thorough investigations of these instances."

"Like the ghost of Mater?"

"Yes, precisely."

Allen took this moment to open the door, wanting to meet the informative finder. He gave him a smile as he held out his hand, "Hi, my name is Allen Walker."

The finder stood up, adjusting his pack before taking Allen's hand, "It's certainly my pleasure, Master Walker. I am Toma, your finder for this mission.". Allen looked over his shoulder and noticed a pile of cards arranged in multiple piles. He bent down, taking a joker in his hand, "Have you been doing this since we've been on the train?".

"It's a hobby of mine.", Toma replied sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. Allen looked up at him, smiling kindly as he fingered the cards, "It looks interesting.". Toma sat beside him, pausing for a few seconds before inquiring, "Master Walker, tell me, are you at all familiar with the Ghost of Mater?".

"I'm not."

Toma looked up, as if seeing something in the distance. After a few minutes he continued, "It's fascinating, the story goes back from the days the city went into ruin. The ghost was originally an inhabitant of the city before it met it's demise. As people visited the city, the ghost would draw them towards his being and attempt to relieve his loneliness.".

"I hear stories about disappearances all the time.", Allen said, his grey eyes darkened with sadness as he remembered from when he was training as an exorcist.

"We finders investigate stories like this. Even if it's only a vague rumor, and most of the time they are. But until we determine it's validity and whether or not innocence is directly involved, we will stay up to months at a time investigating these claims...".

Allen zoned out, Arianna's face appearing in his mind.

All this time, he knew that she was going to become a finder, but he never really knew what that meant, all he knew was that she was suppose to help him in some way. But after hearing Toma explain his job, Allen couldn't help but wonder if that meant that she was going to be separated from him.

It made him uneasy...

"...As I said, most do turn out to be fake stories or local legends gone array. But even when the rumors are true, it is very rare that innocence is directly involved in some way. However, if there is even the slightest possibility that innocence is involved...it immediately becomes a top priority for the finders to inform the Order...", Toma continued, shaking Allen from his thoughts.

Suddenly, Kanda threw the door open, stepping out with one hand on his innocence, "...And then, exorcists show up to finish the job.", he finished in a blunt tone. He glared down on both of them before continuing,

"Be ready to move in 5..."

~With Arianna~

"..."

Arianna stared in silence as she looked up at the tower of papers in front of her. It looked as if she were to touch it, it was going to crush her. The small audience that she had attracted during the first test seemed to grow, they surrounded her with anticipation. She slowly turned to Komui, her eyes like ice. He just smiled at her.

"Complete the written test in an hour.", he said bluntly, watching with amusement as her eye twitched with annoyance. After a few minutes of silence, she let out a deep sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She pointed at the crowd,

"Can they leave? I want to concentrate.", she said with a slightly strained voice.

"But this will test how well you can handle distractions!", Komui responded happily, the crowd nodded with agreement as many of them snickered. Arianna took a deep breath, undoubtedly trying to restrain herself from pummeling the purple-haired man in front of her...

He was just a child.

She let out another sigh before sitting herself down in front of the tower of papers. She blocked out the mutters that came from the crowd as she started. After quickly separating the tower into multiple piles, she pulled out page one,

Please answer all the questions after reading them carefully.

Right away Arianna could tell that something was fishy. Many people in the group were watching her with cruel amusement, and Komui looked rather proud of himself. She decided that she should read all the questions before answering them, just to be sure.

And with that, she quickly began to skim all the questions, she felt triumphant as many of the faces in the audience faltered, including Komui's. After 45 minutes of industrious reading, she reached the last page,

Please disregard the first step on page one and sign your name on the back of this page to complete the test.

Arianna looked back at her audience, shooting them an evil grin as she did what the last problem told her to do.

She signed the page with an enthusiastically, savoring her victory as she left her name in a very delicate scrawl fit for a noble. Cracking her back as she got up, she walked to Komui throwing him the paper. Then she blatantly walked passed him, pushing through the flabbergasted crowd.

"Next."

"Are you kidding me?!", Arianna exclaimed at a rather triumphant Komui, who crossed his arms in victory.

Now, Arianna was pretty adequate in keeping her temper, but this was the last straw. She was pretty sure that this test was not even necessary, and they were just using her for entertainment. Many of the people in the front row backed away, as she seethed with fury.

"Come on, teamwork is essential. You must be able to work with your comrades without a problem.", he said he gave her an evil smirk, "Now, charm them!". The vein in her forehead was threatening to burst.

Who did he think she was?! She was not some common whore her master chased around the red-light district!

Nether the less, she took a deep breath. This was the last test, Komui had assured her, but to her, it was almost the final blow.

Almost.

She scanned the group surrounding her, finally she zoned in on the youngest one she could find. He was built much like Allen, lean and not overly muscular, but he was taller. He had messy brown hair that was tied casually at the nape of his neck in a small make shift ponytail.

She slowly approached him, her face cast in shadows, his green eye's widened in shock. He turned to his teammates, but they seemed to have vanished. Suddenly, she looked up at him, her silver eyes sparkling and her lips pressed into a small pout.

The finder didn't even have time to react, when she jumped forward, wrapping her arms around him in a soft hug. She gave him a vibrant smile, his face went red.

She was cute!

"Hi! Call me Grey, I look forward to work with you!", she happily exclaimed, as she gazed up at him through her eyelashes.

Everyone froze at her 180 change in her personality. They stared at her in a shocked silence, she just continued to give them an innocent smile that seemed to sparkle. She was still hugging the brown-haired finder, who had seemed to be in a daze.

Suddenly, she was pulled off of the Finder and found herself being plastered against the white coat of a giddy Komui. Her eyes widened in shock as he swung her around, he hugged her so tightly she thought she was going to suffocate.

What a horrible way to die.

"YOU PASS! YOU PASS! AWWWW, YOU'RE ALMOST AS CUTE AS MY PRECIOUS LENALEE! YOU CAN BE MY LITTLE SISTER, I'M SURE LENALEE WOULD LOVE YOU!", he shouted with joy.

Arianna was about to pass out from the combination of suffocation and exhaustion, when the green-haired exorcist stepped forward. She lifted her leg up and brought it down sharply onto his head, causing him to release her, much to her relief.

"That's enough brother!", she exclaimed. She then bent down and offered Arianna a hand as she smiled kindly at her, "Sorry about that, my brother gets carried away sometimes."

Arianna just stared at her for a few seconds before taking her hand hesitantly. Lenalee smiled at this small act of acceptance as she continued,

"Welcome to the Black Order!"

~With Allen~

"Toma, how's it looking?", Kanda asked as they ran. The imposing ruins of Mater could be seen in the distance. He figured that it's buildings would have been beautiful if it was still occupied. Unfortunatly, the location was shit, which was why it was abandoned in the first place.

Toma had the radio phone pressed to his ear, "I can't get through!", he exclaimed, his beady eyes shining with concern.

"Then let's hurry!"

Allen's left eye began to glow, turning it into it's typical black and red target. Toma looked at him with surprised curiousity, "Can you see the akuma?!", he asked. Allen nodded as he focused on the city, seeing the blips of multiple souls of the akuma, "I can, my left eye is equipped with a sensor that can spot akuma and more specifically, the souls trapped inside them.".

Kanda scoffed as he sent Allen a glare, "A cursed eye. You should have told us from the start Moyashi. Before we arrive, let's get things straight. I'm not nearly the idealist you are, emotions have no place on the battlefield.".

He paused for a few seconds, intensifying his gaze, "...If you get yourself hurt, hinder the mission and put the rest of us in danger, I'll leave you for dead. In other words, we're not partners. So don't expect me to help.", he said scathingly with cold eyes.

"Pleasant as always.", Allen replied bluntly, still focused on the tormented souls.

"Right."

"The finder unit should have already risen the barriers. They can survive a few days in there at least.", Kanda said as they reached the edge of the city. They stopped as they landed on a roof of one of the buildings, allowing them to view the city from overhead.

"I can see the barrier, it's over there!", Toma exclaimed as he pointed towards the middle of the city. They could vaguely make out the figures inside.

"That must be the ghost of Mater.", Kanda stated bluntly, stepping forward. Allen looked around in concern and fear, "What?! Then where are the finders?!", he exclaimed.

"It looks like they activated the barriers in order to protect the ghost of Mater, instead of saving themselves. They must be waiting for the exorcists...", Toma replied sadly.

"Oh no..."

Kanda just continued glare at the barrier with a blank face, "Then they did their job, Toma.". Toma nodded sadly, "Agreed.".

Suddenly, a series of explosions came from the side of them, a few blocks away. Allen turned around sharply, his eyes sparkling with hope, "There's a light, they're alive!", he exclaimed. Without a moment of hesitation, he ran towards the explosions.

"Master Walker!"

Kanda landed beside the barrier, he knelt beside the dying finder that was propped against a wall, "Finder, tell me the release code for the barrier.", he said bluntly. The finder looked up at him with hope, he let out a few pained gasps before he replied, "Have you come to save us, exorcist?".

Kanda's face was cast in shadows, "Just tell me the code, you don't want your death to be for nothing now, do you?". The finder let out a few more labored gasps before answering, "Fine...the code is 'Have Hope'. You must protect the innocence...". The moment the words left his mouth, the finder slumped over, dead.

Kanda got up, brushing the dust from his coat. He made his way to the barrier, punching in the code in silence. The two figures stared at him, the blonde haired girl tightened her grip on the cloaked man, "Have you come to save us exorcist?", she asked.

Kanda just held out his hand to the cloaked man,

"You're safe, ghost of Mater."

Meanwhile, Allen struggled to fight the last level one akuma. His grey eyes shone with anger as he pushed himself out of what used to be a wall, "He's too strong!", he said through his teeth.

Suddenly, the akuma issued a purple aura, it became a swirling mass of metal and shadows, "It's changing! What's happening the soul trapped inside is being distorted!". It seemed to harden into a kind of shell. Allen watched with disbelief as if burst open, a grotesque clown flying from it a few seconds later.

"I Am An AkUmA!", it exclaimed with a creepy mechanical voice, "My NeW FoRm Is BoRn FrOm ThE DaRkEsT Of MaTtEr. ThAnK YoU FoR AlL YoUr HeLp, ExOrCiSt!"

"It ApPeArS ThAt I'm AlL GrOwN Up!". Allen's eyes widened in surprise, "How is that possible? The akuma evolved!", he exclaimed.

The akuma gave him a twisted smile before replying, "ArEn'T YoU ClEvEr!". Kanda and Toma landed beside him. Allen looked up at them, "Kanda...". Kanda glared at him, sneering, "I'm not here to help you, acting on your emotions is what got you into this mess in the first place. You'll have to take care of it your self.".

Allen nodded as he returned Kanda's cold gaze, "Fine then. As long as you have the innocence there's no need for me to worry. I'll catch up with you two later after I destroy this akuma!", he said briskly before launching himself at the crazed akuma.

"YoU WiLl DiE, NoT Me!", it laughed, twirling around to meet him.

Kanda blankly watched Allen confront the akuma, "Toma, Keep an eye on him.", he said before turning to walk away. Toma looked up at him, "On Master Walker?", he asked.

"No, on that akuma.", he responded bluntly. Toma gave him a small bow as he watched him walk away,

"Yes sir."

~With Arianna~

Arianna let out a tired sigh as she collapsed onto her new bed, not bothering to change her clothes. She felt as if she was going to die...

Ok, that was exaggerating it.

But enduring those stupid tests really drained her energy, it didn't help that Lenalee insisted on giving her a full tour too. So far she had met many people from the Order.

There was Johnny, the curly-haired scientist who excitedly exclaimed that he was going to make her uniform and his friend Tap. There was Reever, who she learned was the section leader of the Order.

She could vaguely remember the finder who she had hugged in the last test introduce himself as Caleb. She also remembered meeting the enthusiastic cook, who all but forced her to eat, which she had to admit was delicious. There was also a number of finders that she had met, but didn't remember their names.

She rolled onto her back, staring absent-mindedly at the ceiling. Allen's face floated into her mind, probing it insistently. She frowned, she had been too busy that she wasn't able to think about him until now.

Oh no, he's such an idiot, he'd probably get himself killed!

Maybe she should call him. She got up, about to pick up the phone on her bedside table, but paused. She frowned.

Why did she always care about him? Her top priority was to get back to her family as soon as she can.

She laid back down on her bed, closing her eyes in thought, but couldn't fight oncoming sleep as she drifted off.

~With Allen~

The akuma turned to the barrier, tapping it's mouth in thought, "I SeE ThAt GhOsT HaS MaDe It'S EsCaPe. WeLl, ThAt's FiNe, I'lL MaKe PlEnTy Of TiMe To DeAl WiTh HiM LaTeR.", it said slowly before continuing with a sick, twisted smile, "...BuT FiRsT, I GeT To TaKe YoUr LiFe.".

Allen glared at it, his left eye glowing bright red as he raised his left arm, "I wouldn't be so sure about that!", he exclaimed as he launched himself at it. The akuma intertwined it's fingers with Allen's innocence, preventing it from running through him.

It let out an evil cackle as it threw Allen roughly, causing him to crash through multiple buildings. It watched in amusement before looking down at it's hand, which was burned from being in contact with Allen's left hand.

It paused for a few minutes before letting a twisted smile form on it's face. It flew down to find Allen through the wreckage.

Allen moaned as he pulled himself out of the remnents of the wall the akuma flung him into, as he opened his eyes, he saw the akuma land in front of him. He launched himself at it, running ti through with his left hand.

But something was wrong, he couldn't see a soul. When he took a closer look, he saw that it was like a hollow shell of some sort.

wait, that's not an akuma, it's a fake!

Suddenly, he felt something slam into his side. He clutched at his bleeding side as he saw his assailant with wide eyes.

"Im RiGhT BeHiNd YoU!"

He could recongized it's voice, but was amazed to see that it came from his mouth. He watched his doppleganger give him a almost seductive look as it dug its fingers deeper into his side.

What the?! There's two of me!"

Arianna might just get her wish...

DONNNNNEEEE!

I HAVE TO SAY, IT WAS FUN WRITING THE "TESTS". I THINK THAT MY NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE FOCUSED ON ARI, CUZ IT'S SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE FOR HER...PLUS I'M TAKING A BREAK FROM COPYING THE LINES FROM EPISODES. XD

I HOPE YOU'VE ENJOYED THIS AND PLEASE REVIEW, IT KEEPS ME GOING :)

WTYL,

~OmGiStHaTaDuMLiNg~