Chapter 10, in which Lavi meets a very important person...
A/N: I lied in my previous chapter, I went back to school - hence the delay -_- now I'm REALLY done. (3 degrees later...)
Allen, and all other -man characters, ideas and themes belong to Katsura Hoshino and all other characters, ideas and themes belong to me.
The door opened and Lavi looked on with fear in his eyes as a figure walked in. He breathed a sigh of relief when the person who walked in was just an older looking Noah, and not the terrifying fat suit he was envisioning. The man looked at the emaciated red-head with confusion. Why did he seem relieved? The Earl took a seat on a red sofa opposite the young man, appreciating the warmth from the crackling fireplace.
"What's your name, exorcist?" he asked.
"Uh… L-Lavi…which one of the Noah are you..?" questioned Lavi. The elder man looked weary, definitely not as though he was about to go fight an exorcist. Lavi thought it strange that he couldn't recognize this Noah, he thought his memories included all of them already. But then again, his mind was still fuzzy from the past few days.
The Millennium Earl was confused yet again, did he really seem like JUST ANOTHER NOAH?! "I'm the one who tells the rest of them what to do. I'm also the one who creates the Akuma", he answered in a matter-of-fact tone.
Lavi's jaw nearly dropped to the ground as he realized this was the Millennium Earl himself. "Oh my gosh. I'm sorry, I just... You didn't look like I was expecting you to and uh…yeah... sorry…" he trailed off.
"Oh right. The fat suit. I just don't really like showing my real face to people", the Earl answered in a very monotone voice. He continued, "So, Lavi. I was not aware of what Sheryl had been doing, and I wanted to make sure you knew that it was not with my permission that he kidnapped you."
Mentioning Sheryl snapped Lavi back to reality, and he recognized the seriousness of the situation. He was sitting in front of the man single-handedly responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent people, his exorcist friends included! Rage started to fester in the back of Lavi's mind as he thought of his mentor. He straightened in his seat and his eye sharply took in the Millennium Earl's almost human features.
"What happens now, then? Are you going to kill me?" Lavi asked the man. It would make no sense for the Earl to show him his true face if he intended to simply let Lavi go. The Black Order could only assume that the Earl was aware of his kidnapping, so from the enemy's side, it made no difference what the Earl was telling him. Lavi was certain he'd never see the sky again. A part of him wondered if there was any chance he could harm the Millennium Earl, but remembering his current physical state, Lavi quickly pushed that thought aside. The chances of success were next to none.
So then, could he believe what this man was saying? Or was the Earl simply trying to fool Lavi into trusting him? The Noah were not overly known for their honesty, but then again, no one really knew much about the Earl himself. He could be different. He could be worse. He could be much, much worse. Lavi was staring at the weary gentleman with his one eye as his brain started to over-work itself.
The Earl got up and walked to a nearby booth where he took out a glass and started to pour himself some whiskey. He nudged the bottle toward Lavi, in a way of offering a drink.
The young man slowly shook his head, not taking his eyes off the Earl. The Earl then put the bottle away and came back to his seat. He didn't seem to be in any sort of rush, was he always like this!? The silence was not helping Lavi, and it made him extremely uncomfortable.
Finally, after what seemed like hours but was a matter of seconds at most, the Earl spoke, "No... I'm not planning on killing you, just yet. I don't think losing the new Bookman would be of much help to anyone. Someone has to tell the true story, you know."
The Earl took a sip of his whiskey and continued, "And do you know what the most important element is to storytelling? Point of view. Young man, you have been part of the Black Order for a long while now, and I would argue that you're well versed in how the war is occurring from their end. But what about me? My family? My story?" Lavi could now see the liquid shaking in the Earl's glass. He was getting slightly frazzled, with an intense look in his eyes and it scared the young man. An angry Millennium Earl can't be a good thing.
It seemed as though the Earl read the young man's fears. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths.
"I think that it's time for you to understand the world from my perspective. How would you feel about spending some time among us, the Noah." The Earl shifted to the edge of his seat, eyes wide and continued, "That stupid Black Order are not at all who they make you think they are. This is not a good versus evil fight. I think there's far too much misunderstanding. You're the only one I can think of that can stand on that middle ground with credibility."
Lavi was furious. This monster was asking him to take his side?! He stood up quickly from his seat, ready to face the Earl, "What reason could you possibly need me to do that for?! It's not like you even care what the humans think! You're just some freak willing to wipe out an entire planet for your own selfish needs, whatever the hell they are!
"I'm not interested. If you want to kill me, fine, but I don't think your side needs an explanation. You've been terrorizing humans for so many years, and now all of a sudden you what, want to be understood? Yeah, right!" Lavi huffed and sat back down, his face flushed with anger. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
The Earl didn't seem taken at all by the young man's outburst. Instead, he calmly explained, "It's not the humans I want to understand me. It's Allen. You're right, I could care less what those idiots you call friends think of me. I'm far older, and have existed longer. In fact, I know of a world they never even know existed. I don't think I need to explain myself to them. But Allen, on the other hand, is different. He's the only one I trust. I need him by my side."
The Earl took another sip of his whiskey. He watched Lavi's features ease up. Lavi had completely forgotten for a second about Allen. His dear friend who had been taken prisoner after the Black Order discovered he was the host of the fourteenth Noah. He realized he had no clue where Allen was and how he was doing. Or any of his friends for that matter. It was scary, to think that Allen was in any way connected to this man sitting in front of him.
"Why Allen? What is he to you?" asked Lavi.
"That's none of your concern, child. All you need to know is that he is going to be of the utmost importance in this war. To a Bookman, this should be very valuable knowledge. Act upon it. And do me a favour: stop questioning every damn thing I say!", the Millennium Earl downed what was left of his drink, and got up to leave, setting his glass down on the booth on his way out.
"You have 24 hours to decide. Death or the Noah."
The heavy doors shut loudly behind the elder man. Lavi sat in silence for a few minutes, processing the conversation he just had.
Sorry for the short chapter! But it didn't feel right to lump such a serious conversation with anything else.
Let's play a game now. I want FIVE reviews before I publish the next chapter. How bad do you want it?!