Hello, dear friend! 'Tis me! And here's the new chaps!

Sorry for the long wait tho XD I deserve to be BURNNNNNNNNN

*cough* not really...

Thank you Shadow of the Fire Bird for your kind reviews ;) and to all you anonymous readers out there too! =) Go ahead and happy reading!

Chapter Ten: A Strange Turn

"Ah, I'm so tired."

Lavi breathed out the moment he reached their room (why would this village has but one room left, just like all the others, he had no fucking idea) and dropped down onto the bed, face-first. The sun was only half-way down from the sky, and by God, these people knew how to answer to the point. He did appreciate that, but he oh-so-missed the small talks.

Rei chuckled from where she was, seated at the sofa by the window with her glasses on and a book on her lap. She took off her glasses, put the book – well, tome, more like – down and crossed her legs on the coffee table before her. "I supposed they didn't stray from the topic all too much?"

"No, they didn't. That's why it's super boring!" He complained, rolling onto his back with a hand pressed on his forehead. Glancing to the tall wine glass and a bottle by her side, he noted. "You drink?"

"Only a bit. Red wine, at best three glasses a day." She answered, touching the bottle and spun it around, showing off the label. "Cabernet Sauvignon,"

"I prefer Syrah, more. But too each her own, yeah?" Lavi said, springing up and tried his best to set his now messy hair into shape. He took of his headband and watched as Rei smiled at him – creepily. "What are you smiling at?"

"Oh? Ah, I was wondering what kind of comments you would make." She replied with a warmer and less chilling smile. With a sighed, she elaborated to clear the puzzlement from his face. "I accompanied you here, after all, so I am quite certain they'd tell you almost everything there is to know. So?"

"They still keep something secrets, if that's what you're worried about." He commented, now turning his body to fully face her. "But not many people were there to see the end of the fight. Those who did either die or leave this place… that means you'll have to fill in the blanks for me."

"Not necessarily." She replied. "Tell me what you know, and I'll add something in as necessary. Knowing too much can be harmful, you do realize that, yes?"

"Are you threatening me?" He said jokingly. Well, almost.

"Of course not!" She exclaimed, seemingly surprised by his comments. Rei's look softened as she smiled forcefully at him. "But I'd rather something not known, you see. Old wounds are not healed, yet."

"I understand, I was just joking." He raised both hands. "But some parts of the story, I wasn't sure if you've heard yet. The one-month-incapacitated part?"

"I'm high on morphine for most days." She replied, her nose scrunched up and her eyes narrowed. There was clear sign of annoyance in her eyes. Lavi dully remembered that during the time, she told Lvellie she didn't remember much. Now it made sense. "So if there's anything, I'll need you to fill me in."

"Alright, here goes nothing,"

Lavi breathed in, breathed out, and flipped his inner switch. Now that his focus was directed towards the information he had gathered during the day, he recounted the events, both for himself and for her sake.

...Six years ago, the village was smaller than, but as closely knitted, as it was today. The young doctor prodigy came by a year prior, and she changed everything here, for the better. Protecting them from bandits and thugs and occasional monsters, serving as their personal physician and teach them sciences and music.

They didn't know much about her, because most often than not she kept it to herself, whether it was her worry or her pain. Sometimes the villagers could hear her screams, in the dead of night, and it became more and more frequent. At first, it was only once a week, or less. Then it struck her more and more, draining at her mind, refusing her the refuge of sleep.

During that time, she had but a few companies who visited once a month. One of them was a man with sandy hair, who stayed with her six months after. The other two, no villagers could see, were as close as a family, always laughing and chatting at every opportunity they met. But that didn't change the fact that she always kept it to herself, talking much less to the others in the village than she had with her companions.

She then suddenly disappeared for a few weeks, only to return soaked in blood that wasn't hers, battered and broken. No one knew what happened, for she didn't step foot out of her room ever since. Not until that day –

– 23rd June, 1885, her house exploded and erupted into flames.

Some villagers tried to get to her, but they were stopped when a massive beast with one eye shadowed over them, grinning mischievously as it looked down upon the unarmed denizens. The sandy-brown haired man dragged her, half-dead with blood covering more of her than her skin, out of the house with two suitcases in hands. He quickly instructed them to run, but it was too late.

The demon was fast for its size, and some of the braver men in the front were either devoured or tore into ten different pieces. They screamed and ran, with but a few handful staying back in their fruitless attempts to rescue the doctor they barely knew on a personal level. She had done so much good to the village that they couldn't just ignored it.

In her frail state, she did was she could to cover them, shooting lighting from her golden blade at the beast when she could barely lift an arm, all possible with the help of her close company. However, the beast found little amusement in her meddling, and struck her and the man apart, one landing in the fountain while the other hit the wall hard.

Yet she stood, against the beast, barely breathing and just at the edge of sweet unconsciousness.

A few hunters stood by her side, but they were quickly dealt with by the red quills. No one saw what happened after that, for they had all headed for a safe place to hole themselves in.

And once they returned, eight hours later, there were but scraps of the beast and a giant, white, three-clawed arm that remained, and Rei was unconscious on the ground, covered in many grave wounds, losing too much blood to retain her consciousness.

The man was already at her side by the time any of them returned, and he was more panicked than the rest of them did. He didn't plead for their help, nor ask a favor of them. He instead tried his hardest, using what he had on his body, to nurse her. The villagers knew that the destruction of their homes were partly her doings, but how could they blame her so when she threw her life in front of that abomination to cover their escapes?

Edmund, also a doctor who graduated from the same university and at the same time as she was, offered to aid her, the best he could. The villagers helped in any way they can, hunting for food as they usually did, finding herbs and buying any useful medicines and ingredients while the good doctor and Rei's mysterious company took care of her.

Her wounds were extensive, and instead of red, they bled blackened blood, like tar. She wasn't even awake most of the time, either fallen asleep from all the morphine she was given, or from the sheer exhaustion and pain her wounds caused her. Without a way to transport her without harming her – hence, the roads to their village were no joking matter – they were forced to work with a rather limited resources and equipment.

Her companion, however, seemed to have some strings in the inner circles of the world, as he managed to procure advanced medical equipment from faraway places he hadn't had any mind to name. But they're not to pry in his private matter, for that wasn't their businesses.

From what the good doctor told them, she always had bad dreams whenever she fell asleep, forcing her awake at the moment she began to fall into deep, restful slumber. Her inability to rest for even a day made her condition grew worse, rather than better, and they had spent quite a fortune (well, it was the mysterious man's fortune) to nurse her back to health.

But even then, she never fully recovered. Something changed. Something that rooted deeply in her spirit had changed. And it was eating her alive.

After that, she left the village, in an attempt to eliminate the beast for good. They objected her, but she said nothing, only a smile. Afterwards, once in every while, she would send some gold that, if counted to the present, would allow them all to buy an island of their own.

That, and they heard little more of her.

"You…" Lavi said at last, after finishing recounting the details from the villagers – with them saying little details, but enough to make up a story – and look at Rei, who purposefully hid her face from him with careful postural placement. "I have no idea that it was this harsh… will it be alright for Komui to know this?"

"He needs to." She said evenly. Too evenly, too calmly, and he could hear her forcing the words out through clenched jaws. "They all do. It's inevitable. It's something I despise, but… if it's for you to know about it in order to find a way to understand, to defeat the Owl… then I'm more than willing to shoulder a little more unease."

"I doubt it's a little more unease, Rei." He stated, staring at her. But still, she averted her gaze elsewhere. Even when the sun was still up, he could see shadows looming over her figure. She flinched slightly at his lack of suffix to her name. "They all said the same thing, especially the good doctor. He said you never truly healed, only made better, but not cured of your aliment."

"My body is healed." She averted the subject from his statement, and looked at her hands. He noticed that it was slightly shaken. "My body is healed. It's fine, there's no need to worry."

"It's not your body that I'm worried about." He said, standing up and walking to her. She did what Lavi anticipated her to do – backing away by getting up and walked towards the other end of the room. "I've never said this, but I always see something in your eyes. The way you walk, the way you talk, the way you express your feelings."

She chewed the emptiness in her mouth and looked at him straight for once, her eyes hard and apprehensive. A bitter smile formed on her lips, "Lavi-san, I haven't failed my assignments even once. It doesn't affect me or my work."

He is a Bookman, sure, but that didn't mean that he, as Lavi, would not feel any concerns for his comrades. And she caught his eyes well enough. He halted her attempt to get away by grabbing her wrist. She didn't attempt to pry free, so he spoke a bit softer this time. "It might not, but it's affecting you. Have you even looked at yourself in the mirror, Rei? You look like a zombie."

"It's because of my medical duties, not because of the aliments you spoke of, Lavi-san." She asserted. Stubborn was what she was acting; not being strong, but obstinate. She might actually resembled Kanda more than she knew. Or maybe she did.

"Your fellow physicians don't look as beaten as you are." He stated. "And last night, I woke up when you woke up. I asked around about that too."

Her eyes widen as she stared up at him. "What?"

"You returned by midnight, and you woke up at three in the morning. Then you left at three and a half. How long has this been happening now? Months? Years?" His voice grew louder by the second and, unconsciously, his grip on her wrist tightened. She flinched, but didn't voice her pain otherwise. Lavi let go, watching as she slowly backward-walked towards her bed and sat down.

She rested her head in her palms, and said nothing.

"So? How long has this been going on? If not for the Owl, this probably would stay in the dark until the day you faint mid-battle." He spat those last words too harshly, and she recoiled. He soften his manner and voice as he continued, speaking quieter this time. "We're friends here, Rei. I'm sure we can help you out, help you recover –"

"No." She said firmly. "You can't. None of you can. The only cure is –"

She seemed to have blurted those out unintentionally, because she clasped both hands over her mouth before the only cure slipped out. She evened out her breathing with a well-practiced inhale-exhale technique. Lavi touched her shoulder as lightly as he could, but still she startled. He opened his mouth and tried to comfort her. "Rei, I'm –"

"All of you are just the same." She said, hiding her eyes under her bangs, of which he noticed was soaked wet with sweat. He frowned as she said, almost in a reprimanding tone. But it was… something more. More than just one or two emotions. "Always asking questions. Always trying to find answer, answer that you just don't need to know."

The room fell silence as her breathing, ragged again from her little ranting, slowed down. Lavi took this opportunity to press. "I don't care anymore if this will concern the Order or no. But many will want answers, Rei, for your sake –"

"For my sake?" She cried. "For my sake? No, Lavi-san, you don't understand. Had it been anything else, I'd have told you. I'd have, I really would, but this is beyond your understanding or your concern. So please, just leave it at that. I'm still alive. I can work. I can fight. That's enough for me."

He sniffed. "Liar. You are a decent lair, but you're terrible this time."

"I know." She breathed. "I know."

"Rei," This was going to be his last try, Lavi thought dryly, as he reached for her again. She looked up blankly. "Let's make a deal. You're carrying a lot of burden with you, in case you don't know that. I can help. I promise I won't tell a single soul unless you tell me to."

"How can I trust that you'll keep it? Hadn't you said before that you'll tell everyone as soon as it came to light that it concerned the safety of the Order?" Rei pressed, stiffening slightly. She's being quite defensive.

"I care about you, you know, as a friend would. I'm not speaking to you as an exorcist or a Bookman this time. I'm speaking to you as Lavi." He was being honest with himself, something rare. As Bookman, this put him at risk to be targeted by the panda's wrath, but he'd grown quite fond of her and, to be honest, he didn't like seeing her breaking down this much.

"As Lavi, huh…" She mumbled, biting at her thumb's nail anxiously. "…you do realize that what you're doing might get you exiled from the clan, right?"

He was about to ask how did you know about that? But he decided against that. She must've deduced it on her own, if he knew her well enough. "I know, and I don't give a fuck. So… I can keep your dirty little secrets."

"…Ha…" She laughed only once and shook her head, getting up from the bed and, unexpectedly, hugged him. He blinked stupidly for a few seconds then patted her in the back a few times. Once she let go, she smiled, this time her expression sincere, gentle and warm. Something he had seen too little from her. "Right… I think the line is a bit blurry for you here, Lavi-san."

"It always is. I'm a teenage with raging hormones!" He joked, joining in her laughter and patted her head, knocking her hair off its perfect shape. "So, what is your decision? Come on, share something with me, and maybe I can help you ease your burden a bit, eh?"

"You are a lot less convincing than you think, Lavi-san." She said. "I'll keep most things to myself, but if you said those things that way… then maybe… maybe I can tell you something."

"Well, just tell me the "something" when you feel like it."

"I'll divulge but a few bits. You know, for my mental stability."

"So you do have that issue. I knew it!"

"Lavi-san, don't be so excited." Rei chuckled, looking off the window. "I'll explain it, but first we'll have to take a look at the trails in the forest. It leads quite deep into the shadows, and I think it's best we go together, in case some uncalculated unpleasantries happen upon us."

"So you came back here for your Innocence."

"Yes," She nodded. "Well now… sit down, if you may. It's quite a story, and for the record, if words about it even reach your grandfather's ears, I'll have to consider purging you both as an option."

"Slow down, I ain't telling a soul, honest!" He said, holding both hands up.

"Alright, alright…" She breathed again. How anxious must she be? Letting her tell everything might be a good move, after all. Only the worst of secrets can make someone so calm like her this jittery. "But know this, Lavi-san… this thing I'm about to tell you might be a little… hard to believe. I can't even believe it myself most of the time."

"In case you hadn't realized, exorcists deal with crazy shits on a daily basis." He said with a smile. "So go on ahead. No judging."

"Why I'm going to reveal even the slightest bits to you, I have no idea." She mumbled to herself, but he still heard it, and he smiled. Truth be told, if it had been other people – except for gramps – he might not go this far for them. "Here goes nothing…"

"I can't fucking believe it. I still can't."

"I did warn you."

"I know. Still, fuck, your life's messed up."

They bantered as they walked through the forest. By the time Rei finished short-versioning her stories and said it, it was sundown, and he still had his jaw lost somewhere on the ground. What she had told him wasn't lies, he just knew it, but it's so fucked up he'd rather get kicked around by an Akuma rather than met the same fate as she was. Still, after she told it (of course, she left some details, but he's not going to ask more. She had told him enough), she seemed a bit better, as she had someone else to listen to her story and helped her inside the Order. Not that she needed an extra contact. But he added himself in as a trustworthy friend, so…

"It's better than I thought." She said with a light-hearted smile, stretching her arms up above her head, with her suitcase dangling off her hand. "It's been so long since someone else was there. And the others, you know, they were so busy with information gathering and some such that we barely talked."

"I'm here for ya, if you need." He winked. "Now I understand your comment on I-can't-possible-be-in-love, now. Still, I think you're too hard on yourself! Love is good."

"If you mean striking someone is good, it isn't." She said with a merry laughter as she slapped him lightly in the back. "But I do appreciate the opinion, Lavi-san. It seems like everyone said the same thing about the get-the-love part."

"You deserve a chance, if it makes you feel better." Lavi said. She was afraid to get too close because she had… terrible secrets. Really, he still couldn't fully wrap his head around it. "I mean… even the Beast in Beauty and the Beast gets that chance. You should, too."

"That's a terrible comparison, Rabbit-san." She dead-eyed him, and he had no choice but to cower. Jesus, she's still so scary after all the mental breakdowns she had a few hours ago.

"I'm serious! You do get my point, right?"

"Thank you, Lavi-san."

"And drop the suffix. I'll drop the –chan, if you drop the –san, how's that?"

She contemplated on that for a moment and smiled. "It's a deal."

The light banters continued all the way from the inn, down the path lead to the forest and into the thick trees. True to her words, there was a lot of light flickering in the air, like jewels in the woodland. The silent hums of the crickets were as comforting as it went, and Lavi, now aware of the (tiny part of the whole) story, understood now why she found comfort in this place.

She trekked across the terrains, now with occasional pits and fallen trees, without so much as breaking her stride. He had trained in the art of terrain walking before, but hers seemed so much more refined, more elegance. Well, he might need to learn from her some. But still, he had to ask, first, "Rei, I've gotta ask, what sort of movements are those?"

"Hmm? These?" She returned his question as she vaulted over the fallen tree trunk and landed without stumbling. He followed suit, a bit more awkward, but he was 5cm taller than her, so it wasn't that much of a problem. "It's called Parkour, and yes, I can teach it to you. I think Kanda-san was… trying to ask me to educate him? I don't really remember."

"Yuu? Are you kidding?" Lavi blurted out, incredulous. He then remembered that Kanda was rather… tamed when he was with her, minus that distrust bits when she displayed unrivaled animosity towards Lvellie. "On second thought, not so much. He's cute when he's with you."

"He distrusts me, Lavi." She stated with a bitter smile. "It's for the best. But it's not what I wanted. It'd be better if we can talk like normal acquaintances. Now everything around him is odd. Jittery. Uncomfortable."

"You told me about that. You seemed to have quite a mental breakdown then, huh?" He murmured, placing both hands behind his head and leant against them, relaxing a bit more. He caught her biting her nail, again, and frowned. "I would rather you not bite your nail like that."

"Hm? Oh? Ah, right." She muttered, putting her hand down and rubbed at the bitten nail gingerly. Then she sighed. "Oh god, I only realized just now that I'm an emotional wreck."

"No shitting, yo."

"That does not help, Lavi."

"Duh." He stuck out a tongue. Reeling back after a moment, he smiled. "But I'm here if you need someone to talk, you know?"

"Thank you, Lavi. I truly am."

"S'not a problem." He grinned before turning his eyes towards the edge of the path, where only shadow reigned. The trees around the parts were knocked over, torn off to their roots, or shot and turned into sponges. The case of red-black bullets littered the ground. Akumas. "This, what –"

"It seems we're not the only one looking for information regarding the Owl, Lavi." She said, kneeling at the spot where there's a piece of red, arm-size quill lying on the floor. The color was dull, the quill itself half-broken and fragile. "Be careful. We don't know who's here. Maybe just the Akumas, maybe the Owl."

"Right." He echoed, taking his hammer from its pouch and activated it, holding it with one hand and using his shoulder to bear its already feather-light weight, just to prime his arm for the swing.

Rei took the red mask off from its clasp on her belt and put it on, her eyes changed from warm and light ones into predatory eyes, cold and calm. She glanced at him once and beckoned him to follow her, ever slowly. She had IXA activated after they made their way through the woodland, and used it to prod at the dead body – torn asunder, too, mind you.

Their breathing stopped, and she murmured. "Level Four."

"Good chance the Owl might be here." Lavi concluded. She responded with a nod. "Well, you came here without IXA when you scouted here, yeah? You have quite a devil's luck, aren't ya?"

"Can you call it luck when all I did was preemptively hiding myself?" She said with a hint of smile in her voice. "Besides, I stopped when I reached the entrance."

"Still a risk, though."

"Indeed." She murmured. "Let's focus on the objective at hand."

They both stalked in silence, past the woods and fireflies that lit up the night. Without the moon, their visions were hampered, their awareness to their surroundings dulled. To make up for that, they breathed as soft as they could, their every step careful and made little noise. He watched the rear while she cared for the front, and the further they went along the trails of broken trees and blood and bodies, the harsher the chilling wind that licked their faces.

She signaled him to stop once they get through an archway made of dying wood and hanging entrails. His nose scrunched up as she attempted to un-smell the stench. They stopped, and the scene before them made Lavi's bones ache and his skin crawled.

The Owl, so large, larger than the one General Nine captured, laughed as it tore another Akuma in half with its teeth, swallowing its upper piece down its stomach in one gulp. He saw Tyki at the side, firing bolts of purplish energy at it, chipping it all too slowly. The beast laughed, and its arms and mane grew brighter –

"Lavi!" She whispered urgently, a hand over his head in a second. "Down!"

The beast roared, and countless blood-quills erupted from its body, striking down many Akumas in the front. Tyki was lucky he had a few Level Threes to block the attack. Then Lavi noticed his left arm, with blood leaking out still and pain clearly painted all over his feature.

"What is this?" He hissed, stepping behind the tree and laid as low as he could, his one eye scanning the Akuma-riddled forests. The floor was covered in bodies, most in forms of tangled entrails and pieces of limbs and torsos.

"I understand the Noah, but why is the Owl here?" She whispered back, her posture stiff and her eyes dark. Her grip on IXA grew impossibly tighter. "Damn it, now this just got a lot more complicated."

"Will the town be safe?"

"I don't know." She muttered. "They must be here for the information on the Owl, but… there's no reason for the Owl to be here! Why?"

"We can think about that later, Rei." He said, and then silenced himself when the Owl roared again and charged at Tyki, who dodged it by the hair. And to their luck, their fight got close to where they were hiding.

They pressed themselves flat against the tree, their breathing halted as their muscled strained to stop any and all movements that may have happened. Rei glanced at him, her eye unreadable, before she looked at the shadow of the two beasts fighting against each other. His eye followed suit, and the speed at which the shadows shifted made him gasped.

They were fast, far too fast for his eye to catch, and he could imagine the force and brutality behind each strike. Rei's eyes trained after them without missing a beat as they skimmed around the clearing, her brows knotted together as she noted each and every movement they made throughout the skirmish.

She sighed, and muttered, "Murphy's Law."

"What?"

"Everything that can go wrong will go wrong."

It took him a second to actually get the meaning, and when he did, the first thing he knew was his body flying through the air and landed face-first into the ground.

Someone skidded from a distance to where he was, and stopped beside him. Some droplets of red fell beside his face, and he looked up –

Rei's right arm, still gripping IXA tightly, pressed against her left arm, now sporting a large gash. Her injured arm was left dangling limply with river of blood trailing down from her wound. Her face remained impassive as she glanced at him briefly before looking forward. Lavi's eye followed her only to see that Tyki was looking at them in surprise and the Owl –

"Well, well, well, lookie here! I've missed you!"

She clicked her tongue and tore a piece of her long-sleeve overcoat off, turning it into a makeshift bandage and tied it around the gash without leaving both monsters from her sight. There was a bitter-smile-ish glistening in her eyes as she replied, polite as ever. "The feeling was not mutual, Takatsuki-san."

"At least I get the break." Tyki said with a relieved sigh. Then he locked eyes with the Owl and grinned sheepishly. "Maybe not."

The Owl's blade arm (he just noticed it was coated with blood, probably Rei's) stabbed where Tyki was as the Noah stepped onto the air, avoiding the blow. He raised his arm at them, and Lavi barely had any time to react when he shot the purple energy beam at them. Rei was much quicker, already getting in the way and morphed IXA into its shield form, blocking the strike.

She returned its form back as soon as the attack ended and used the tip to hook at his scarf. Before he knew it, he was thrown (again! Why?) Into the air and effectively out of the fight. He didn't understand this until the corner of his eye caught Akumas heading for the direction they came from –

"Lavi!" She called, sliding down and narrowly preventing total decapitation from the Owl. "Get back there and protect the village!"

"But –" Rei fighting alone against the Owl and Tyki was too tall an order, even for other Generals, let alone here. But he couldn't ignore the Akumas heading to civilian residences, either. His thought was cut short when the Owl shot its quills all around it. Good thing his hammer was sturdy enough for it.

Rei was having a much harder time, instead forced to avoid rather than block the barrages of quills as Tyki circled in from behind, his arm raised and ready to strike. She blocked his attack without looking and threw him off balance, right into the Owl's gaping mouth. The man cursed and let out a fucking barrelful of Tease, covering the vicinity in black fog.

Rei used the tiny opening to breath. "Just go! Protect them!"

"You can't manage alone!" He bellowed, summoning his fire serpent. The fire beast roared and soared into the sky at his command, temporarily blocking the advance of the Akumas. "What the fuck is this!?"

"Just go!" She said, much more urgently than last time. "They'll die if you don't go, Lavi! I'll be f – Ah!"

Her cry of pain drew his attention, and her left arm – already bloodied as it was before – was caught in between the Owl's sharp white teeth. Its grin was as unsettling as the amount of blood streaming out from Rei's wound. Her face twisted in pain as she stabbed IXA in between its teeth and pushed the hilt down with all her body weight, wedging its mouth apart and pulled her arm out.

He was about to repeat what he had said, but the look in her eyes cut him into silence; she was pleading him to go.

"Fuck!" He breathed, glancing at her one last time before rushing to the village, to the innocents back in the town she once lived in.

You better come out of this alive and in one piece, Rei.

Kanda is annoyed. And pissed.

Probably more the former than the latter.

He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for his comrades to drag their fucking asses to the gate. He'd been waiting for half an hour now, and that was just outrageous.

Lenalee, he understood, since this was a rather complicated mission. Komui probably fussed over her some. What he couldn't understand is why the fuck Daisya and the Beansprout would be so, so damn late. This was a rare case, since they were all time-strict (well, maybe not as bad as he was. But still!) And there wasn't any emergency meeting or anything that would require their absolute attentions.

But he could feel something was off. There were less medical staffs than usual, and the absence of most stationary finders suggested something was in need of their attentions. He looked around, spotting but a handful of medics sitting in the sideline. Unlike usually, where they had free time to chatter, they were contacting with someone, walking around and stuttering about wildly.

He walked up to one of the freest ones and tapped him lightly by the shoulder. The man held him off with a raised hand and continued his discussion with someone at the other side of the comm before turning to him. "Speak quickly, Mr. Kanda. We're budy."

"The fuck happens?"

"Ah, that –"

"Kanda!"

The man was cut short by Lenalee's voice. He turned to see that she and Allen were running towards the gate with a few medical staffs (and Alexi) in tow. Link followed closely behind, hands full with medical equipment. He raised an eyebrow as they reached him. Alexi still shouted something at the medics and the men beside him, but he hadn't paid much mind.

"What took you so long?" He reprimanded, glancing between the two alternately before his eyes landed on the various equipment Alexi and Link had gathered at their feet. "And what the fuck with all those things?"

"Emergency mission replacing the one we were s'posed to do." Allen replied in short, nodding at the guard who then asked for the authorization to use the Ark Gate.

"What happened?"

"We lost contact with Rei-san and Lavi two hours ago. Attempts to raise them had failed, and since their mission was supposed to be just a recon for any information regarding the Owl… we think something had happened." Link filled in, flipping the page of his note.

"Also," Alexi piqued up from where he was, tinkering at his machines. "Before the communication went dark, we heard someone said something into the golem – indirectly – about cardiac tamponade or something."

"And that means?" He really, really hated technical terms.

The doctor's grim face answered enough. "It means someone is in big trouble, and if I were to guess, it's one of those two."

"Are you ready, Alexi-san?" Lenalee asked, tightening her belts and sleeves. She turned to him and Allen. "Once we arrived in Copenhagen, I'm carrying you two and Alexi, because travel by roads is going to take at least twelve hours. Please do not fight while we're airborne, or I'll drop you."

"Understood." Allen echoed. Kanda only nodded in respond.

Well. Shit just got a lot more complicated.

Interlude Two: Old Blood that Boils

Telling someone else something was… refreshing.

Although I barely disclosed anything to Lavi, it made me felt like I've lifted a weight that had been crushing me off my back. I felt… lighter, free.

Some of what I've told him was the truths, while others… well, they were the lies I constructed in order to convince myself that everything's under control. I told Lavi a single name, and if he's as smart as I think he is… he'll soon come to an answer, impossible to understand.

I don't even know why I gave him that name… plus some other lies to cover up my trail.

And then, the seemingly tranquil (but mentally exhausting) mission came apart and crashed down in flames.

Why? Why has it come to this?

I can feel the pain in my left arm still, but it amounted to nothing as the question repeated itself in my head. The mask I had on hid my growing panic as I stared at the Owl. Tyki was within my calculations, but why would the Owl be here? There's no reason for it to –

And I caught the Akumas scurrying at the edges of my vision, heading for the village. My blood ran cold, and I had asked of Lavi the impossible; to save it while I dealt with the Owl.

He was reluctant, but we had no choice. I have the best chance of coming out alive against these two monstrosities, and he had the highest wide-range offensive capabilities. He had to go. He had to leave me here.

And when he did, I turned IXA from its rapier form into the katana, brimming with life and death. The Owl sneered while Tyki used this opportunity to flee through Road's crumbling portal. I didn't train my eyes after them, since doing so would warrant for the Owl to attack me.

"So even IXA had changed to suit your needs, Akihiro." It cooed, coming closer with its neck craned to the side, its grin widen impossibly still. The sting on my arm intensified and I felt like being jolted by electricity. It laughed when I jumped slightly at the shock. "Come on now, don't be shy. Talk to me."

"I have nothing to talk about, Takatsuki-san." I said, gritting my teeth. The blood – my blood – started whirling, and then they gathered around the blade, slowly but noticeably. "We have nothing to discuss, not with that last stunt you pulled five years ago."

"So mean," It said, priming its main as it glowed bright red. "You know, I am sourly disappointed in you."

"What is there to be?" I joked back and dodged its downward slash by side-stepping and jabbed at it.

"You didn't even notice that the Noah didn't really leave… 3."

The words sunk in too late, and before I knew what happened a sharp, searing pain cut across my back.

I knew what had happened, so there's no point mulling over it. Instead, I used the tip of my blade to command my blood off the ground and the wound itself, using it to extend the reach of IXA and cut at whatever had attacked me. It only grazed the Noah, but that was enough.

My breathing became labored as the burning pain from the wounds ran through my systems. Adrenaline had already kicked in, so I expected myself to be able to hold out a bit longer. I widened my stance, and crouched, my eyes trained after both the Owl and Tyki, who had yet again entered Roal's portal, this time making sure that he did not come back.

"Here it comes, here it comes!" The Owl cried gleefully as I lunged.

We exchanged blows after blows, and I was forced into a defensive stance as the Owl increased the ferocity of its attack. I couldn't lose track of it for a second or I'd be forced on my knees in seconds. The back of my mind thank whatever that inspired Tyki Mikk to leave me alone.

This continued for who knows how long before the Owl slipped up because of its own stupidity as it winded up for a heavy strike that would never hit me.

The blood that circled around the blade caught the flickered of fire from the bright-red steel itself, and the extended reach caught one of the Owl's blade-like protrusions from its back. But of course, being the sadistic-masochistic monster that it was, it didn't flinch away, nor did it try to move out. And that was the only thing that wasn't within my calculations.

Instead, it closed in, and I found myself flying and hitting a tree.

It jumped at my vulnerable state, and I barely rolled out of the way in time before it teeth sunk into the place where I was a moment ago.

I shivered at the mere thought of getting caught like that.

But before anything else could be done, it just looked up, its signature grin nowhere to be seen. Its eye rolled between me and something far into the distance of the night.

And it left.

I sighed in relief, but I had no time to dwell on it – I had to go. Lavi – Lavi was against that number of Akumas, all alone –

As I made my way back, I cut them all to pieces, but the closer I got to the village, the thicker the cloud of these machines became, and soon I found that Lavi was being overwhelmed by the continuing onslaught of bullets and blades. I cried his name, but he didn't heed it. I had to help him –

And by the time I did, he had already fallen.

"Lavi!" I cried his name one more time as my adrenaline surged again – I had to save him, no matter what.

Annnnnnd there's that. No Chapter next week, folk! Exam incoming! :(

Anyways, if you have any questions, ask away in the review. If it doesn't contain spoilers, I'll be happy to reply :D