Me: Hey!~ So...I'm so sorry about not keeping with my updates...
Richie: What the hell were you doing, Hanashi?
Lavi: I wonder myself. There are stories you seemed to have neglected.
Me: Sorry! Jeez. Life caught up with me, I had so much to do, but I'll explain what happened at the A/N, I promise!
Allen: -sighs- I'd say this chapter is rated 'T' do to our current bickering pair.
Kanda: Che. She doesn't own D. Gray-man, just the story and Linhagem.
Richie: And other OCs that come in! Hey, you get a good story out of it, right?
Eleventh Chapter: Illusions
When I finally came to, I didn't know where I was. But I did know that there was another presence with me. I opened my eye, and saw it was the old man from earlier. Noticing I was awake, he helped me remove the gag that was over my mouth.
"Okay, old man, you've got a lot of explaining to do." I told him, as he started to unbind my wrists.
"Yes, I know, and I'm sorry." He said, trying to work on the ropes to which were keeping my wrists bound behind my back, and by my ankles. "I didn't wish for harm to come to you or your friend, but my life is at stake for going against her wishes..."
"Someone's pulling the strings?" I asked, feeling his shaking hands trying to undo the knots. "Those Akuma attacks were a little too well organized to be prearranged by a level one, now that I think of it..." I let my train of thought trail off, as I began thinking these things through.
After a few minutes of fumbling with the knots I knew weren't coming undone anytime soon, the door had been roughly opened by none other than Kanda. I furrowed a brow when he stood in the door way, a little curious as to why he was even here. "So you're the one who's behind this."
"Wrong, JerKanda." I sighed, a little of my irritation visible. "He was trying to remove these ropes from me. Speaking of, make yourself useful for once, and get me out of this!"
"Che, you don't order me around, Linhagem." He said, unsheathing Mugen from its saya, and slashing at the bonds. The old man stumbled back, fearful for his life.
"And yet there you go, doing as I told you." I murmured. "How'd you even find me?" He gestured to some things on the ground, only to realize they were the jellybeans Sophia had given me.
"I take it you didn't leave that trail."
"Haven't you read Hansel and Gretel?" I ask rhetorically, "If you leave a trail of breadcrumbs the birds will eat them. Besides, I need every ounce of energy I can get. Though Jeryy's cooking is much better." I said with a sigh. Sure candy beans are fine, but too much is bad for anyone's health.
"Che. Damn fox."
"Rotten she-man."
"I'll tie you to that damn bed if you call me that again."
"I had no clue you were into bondage, JerKanda." I mocked.
"Listen up, Linhagem, either you learn your damn place or so help me, I'll make you learn your place."
"Easy there. I'm not into S&M shit either."
"So, this is the witch's cabin then?" Kanda asked changing the subject.
"It seems so." I said, stretching my arms. "Frankly I don't know who brought me here. All I know was that I was dreaming, then I woke up here."
"Isn't you're cursed eye fixed?"
"It's still regenerating. But I think I'll be able to use it within the hour."
"How would you know that?"
"Você vai ganhar o olho do vidente novamente nesta hora." I recited. "That's what I was told in that dream. My 'sight' will come back to me within the hour."
"So you're useless until then."
"Harsh words, JerKanda." I sighed, making my way to the door. "If you guys are coming, please follow. I don't wanna stay here any longer than needed." That being said, I walked out the door, Kanda and Sophia's father right behind us. The instant I got outside I saw what Kanda meant by the trail of jellybeans. "That's a waste."
"You didn't leave the trail."
"I told you that, didn't I? Parasitic users need all the food sources they can get to be sure they can actually perform well in battle. I'm not complaining though, jellybeans aren't really my favorite foods. I got one that tasted like...actually I don't know what it was..." The instant I finished my statement, the old geezer with us started to act nervous.
"What are you two going to do now?" He asked us.
"Easy. We're going to figure out what's going on around here." I instantly answered.
"A-Actually, if you go straight down that path, you can leave the village...why don't you leave this village? I don't mind going with you so..."
"Why?" Kanda asked, more likely than not figuring the same thing I was. The old man dropped his cane, and waled towards us.
"Please...help me..." He started to beg, walking towards Kanda. His hands were held out as he grasped at the male's coat. "Please...th-there's a witch in this village...let's escape. Okay?"
"We refuse." Both Kanda and I bluntly stated.
"What?"
"I want to ask you something." Kanda continued. "Where's the witch?"
"When we were in that shed, it showed signs of someone living there up until quite recently." I pointed out. "Where's that person now?"
No answer.
"Why won't you answer?" Kanda demanded. "Don't tell me the witch is—"
A scream of terror as the old man suddenly ran from us.
"Now I'm really curious." I said a gleam in my eye. "Why would he run away like that?"
"You're as annoying as Daisya." Kanda muttered. "But this is as I suspected. The witch may be living in the village."
"Good to know we're thinking about the same then." No sooner did I say that, we heard the old man's screams coming from not too far off. Before long we took action. The scene we came across wasn't one I was unfamiliar with. A level one Akuma and I took notice that the man had been stabbed through his stomach. My Innocence activated, I sliced through the barrel of the Akuma's cannon, freeing the man, while Kanda managed to slice the Akuma with Mugen. Always the damn show-off.
"I'm sorry..." I was supporting the man.
"Sorry for what, old man?" I asked, "Hey! Hang in there, will ya?"
"I'm sorry...forgive me..." With that said, pentacles decorated his skin, until he grew darker in tone. An ashen gray. Before our eyes his body disintegrated into dust.
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I was the one to make a makeshift grave for the elderly man. Kanda not really wanting a part of it. "May your soul find salvation. Rest in peace."
"You done now?"
"Yeah. Kanda, let's go. I think it's time for a little witch hunting."
"Right."
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Not long after we made it to the village, my right eye started throbbing. "Damn it..." I muttered feeling the pulsation in my eye.
"What's wrong?"
"My eye...it's trying to tell me something." I looked up and saw Sophia standing there. My eye only increased in pain. I felt something trickle down my cheek. Placing my hand on the warm wet trail, I found out what it was. Even in the dim lighting, I knew this substance well. Blood. Why would my eye being crying blood?
"Welcome back. What happened?" She asked us. But there was something off about her voice. "I was worried, since you and my father were gone when I woke up."
"Funny story to that..."
"Sophia, I want to talk to you." Kanda stated, cutting me off.
"Yes?"
"You're father died." He stated, "He tried to escape from the village and got killed by an Akuma."
"Is that right?" I really didn't like the tone in her voice.
"Sophia," I spoke up, looking at the girl. "are you the witch?"
No answer.
"Then let me repeat that question." Kanda stated firmly. "You're the witch of this village, aren't you?" It was more of a statement rather than a question.
"No. I'm not." Sophia answered.
"Then who lived in the witch's shed up until now?" I asked this time.
"There's a legend of a witch in this village." Sophia started to explain. The pulsing in my right eye wasn't easy to forget about, as it made itself known more to me. I ignored it for now. "villagers have long given the role the "witch" to women who were eccentric and had no relatives."
"Role?" I probed, knowing that more information we got, the better we could figure out what was going on.
"Yes. In return for being provided with a minimum of food, clothing, and shelter, she is detested and feared by the villagers. In other words, she become the witch. If there is a witch, all the disasters and misfortunes in the village will go to her. Hence the village can stay peaceful. That was this village's "legend of the witch"."
"I see." I muttered. Already getting where this was going.
"However, a month ago, that old woman...the witch died."
"Died. She was old, so it's obvious how that can be a problem." I said, crossing my arms. Kanda sighed.
"This is a deep-rooted tradition." Kanda then stated. "The first witch dies. They need a replacement."
"Sounds right." I affirmed.
"That's right. Those religious villagers thought that they needed a witch, so they chose a new one. They chose Angela...my younger sister." At the mention of her little sister, the pain in my eye intestine tenfold, and I fell to the ground, clutching my eye.
"Tch...damn it..."
"What's wrong with you?"
"Y-Your sister...?" I said through the pain. Ignoring Kanda.
"Yes...my twin sister." Sophia confirmed. "But unlike me, she was poor in health." There was a pause before she continued her tale. "however, while I was working in Mitterwald...Angela was chosen to be the village witch. My father couldn't fight the decision made by the villagers. Angela, who was in poor health, was taken to the shed on the outskirts of the village...in that cold and dark shed with no companionship. Angela grew weak in no time. In less then ten days..."
"You died." I finished. My eye had finally calmed down. It showed me the past of Angela and Sophia. "You have Sophia's body, but my eye tells me you're really Angela. You and your sister became an Akuma to take revenge over the villagers for what they did to you."
"I take it your eye's working now." Kanda said, not making eye-contact with me.
"It is." I said just as I heard a strange whirring sound. Kanda noticed too, and turned to me.
"What the hell..." Judging by his reaction he was seeing what I was. It was the witch's shed. A girl that looked like Sophia was on the bed, clutching a harp coughing. Shortly after her coughing fit, the girl's breathing started slowing down. It wasn't long before she became completely still. She seemed to be sleeping, but Kanda and I could tell that she would never again open her eyes.
Time skipped, and we saw Sophia at the witches cabin. Seeing her little sister newly deceased. She cried over her loss...
"And then Sophia met the Millennium Earl." I said, snapping Kanda and I out of the flashback of Sophia and Angela's past.
"That's correct."
"You have willingly become an Akuma along side your sister. You bear two souls, rather than just one.
"I'm amazed you figured that out."
"It's not hard. Now that my eye works again, I can see your pasts. It's a tragic one. Despite that, I've seen pasts much worse than what you two had gone through. I can promise the both of you, you won't have much of a future."
"So you don't say."
"You and your sister were both victims in this village's quest to keep their stupid traditions alive. My eye let's me see the pasts and futures of any given individual. That is the power of my right eye. It's my curse."
"In your own way, you're much too nice for your good. I don't need your pity." The Akuma said, all the while the wind picked up around her as she started to change her form. "Because I was the one who called myself back from the dead. And, I sacrificed my life for myself. I killed myself and became myself again."
"It's just like I have said."
"Angela and Sofia were combined, and turned into Akuma." Kanda summarized. "And you turned the town into Akuma as well."
"That's right."
"Great, these villagers are all Akuma after all." I groaned, activating my arm, readying for battle. "You've brought the legend of the witch to life."
"Because in a way, I am a witch!"
"Is that all you have to say?" Kanda said, unsheathing Mugen.
"Yes. That's all." Sophia/Angela said. "Goodbye, Exorcists." With that she jumped out of the way of the level one Akuma, allowing them to ready their attacks on us.
"This is the witch's village." Sophia said from her perch on the church's window ledge. "And all who come from this village get killed by the witch, and no one can leave this village!"
"You better not become a burden, Linhagem."
"Please, as if I'm gonna let these assholes get the better of me." A quick vision passed before my eye, "Kanda! The first attack is 5 o'clock, no time to dodge!" I said the instant my eye showed me what was going to happen.
"Right." The instant the bullets started firing, he used Mugen to reflect and slice each of the Akuma bullets that were aimed at him. He then jumped to the offending Akuma, and attacked them.
"Like hell I'm letting you have all the fun." I muttered, as I went in for the kill of the one behind me. Blood splattered, covering me in the oily gore of the defeated Akuma. It didn't take long before we managed to destroy all the level ones.
"Innocence, invoke. First Illusion: Netherworld Insects!" I've seen this move plenty of times in the past, but every time I saw it, I could never help but be amazed by the power the first illusion had. It was powerful, and it seemed to grow more so every time I'd seen it.
"Hmpf. Such a showoff." I muttered. At some point during the battle, he lost the tie that kept his hair in the high ponytail he always wore.
"There was something I forgot to tell you earlier." Kanda said, direction his words to the girl. "When you're father died, he said: 'I'm sorry. Please forgive me.'"
"I see."
"The villager I've defeated before also said that. Right before he died. Why do you think they were apologizing to?"
"Who knows? I don't care."
"Do you care about it?"
"I don't care either."
"And what about you?" The question was directed at me.
"I don't." I simply answered.
"I'm glad the three of us agree then." Once she said that, Sophia jumped into the sky, transforming into her Akuma form.
"You must've killed many people."
"I'll continue to kill."
"Not for much longer!" I said, cutting in with Kanda's fight. The form of Sophia's Akuma form wasn't something I could easily describe. She seemed to have a a kind of helmet tat did nothing to cover her now malformed face. She stood probably a little taller than Kanda. "Got'cha."
"Hmf. You sure?" Before I could retort, a purple light surrounded both me and Kanda. I closed my eyes, but when I opened them...
I was standing in a place that I had always seen in my dreams. It was some sort of port. Probably in Portugal, being that's where it's been deducted I've come from. The space had that familiar yet foreign feel to it. Like it was home, but at the same time it was not. Suddenly the scene started to darken, and be pulled away, as I stayed put. My eyes widened in fear realizing that the only possible memory was slipping from my grasps...I couldn't risk losing that...a clue that could be a key to my past. I couldn't lose it...because I couldn't. All traces of fear soon disappeared, and I opened my eyes. "You'll have to do better than that." The instant I had gotten out of the trance, my Innocence, to which had previously been deactivated, was now invoked once more. " Lança anjo!" I said the same instance Mugen was activated too. We hit the Akuma dead on.
"Why?" The Akuma asked of us. I withdrew my nails from her chest and watched as they returned to normal length. Or as normal as they were when my arm was activated.
"You read your opponent's memory." I stated. "You show the desires and attachments as a dream in order to confuse them."
"You both were able to stay calm after seeing that?"
"What you were able to read was just the surface of my desire." Kanda stated, "My desire isn't something that can ever be granted by anyone."
"It goes double for me." I said my voice low and dangerous.
"So, you both have a darkness within you, for which I cannot understand." She coughed up blood after saying that. "I'm a witch. But that young lad is crying over me."
"What?" I asked, how could I be crying when no tears fell from my eyes.
"They are not tears which you can see. But they are wasted on me."
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The following morning, we found ourselves in front of the witch's shed for the final time. "At least we managed to do deal with that Akuma problem." I sighed, staring the lake with the lotus in it.
"Linhagem. Were you really sobbing for an Akuma?"
"Bringing that up now? No. I wasn't, but I did think the situation was sad. Angela and Sophia were victims in all this. Their village wanted to keep their traditions alive, and well? Just look what happened in the end."
"Che."
"When was the last time we had a conversation without going at each other's throats, anyway?"
"This is probably the first time."
"It's...nice. We should try to do something like this some time." I said getting up. "Well, we need to find General Tiedoll." Kanda sighed in annoyance, but followed my lead.
"Let's just hurry up and find him." He muttered.
"Aw, c'mon, he'll be enthralled to see you again, Yu." I said with a cocky grin. After that I ran for my life. Laughing all the while. Sure, I'd have to deal with Mugen if I stopped, but the sooner we left, the sooner we could meet up with Daisya, and the sooner we could find General Tiedoll.
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"Well, well, well, if it isn't two of my favorite people." It was about the end of the day when Kanda and I finally made it to our destination. We were in a cavern meeting a young man who was spinning a doorbell on his finger. "It's been a while, Kanda, Richie."
"C'mon, it's only been thirteen months." I said. Flicking him on the forehead. I chuckled at his pain, but with a smile, greeted him. "Nice to see you again, Daisya."
"Can't say the same for me though...you've grown up since last time, Richie."
"And you're more annoying." Kanda deadpanned. Daisya Barry was one of Tiedoll's other students just like Kanda and myself. His brown hair was covered by the hood of his joker-like Exorcist cloak. He was the second oldest, like Kanda was second youngest.
"Y'know, you two took your sweet time getting here." Daisya taunted, "I thought I'd be waiting for a while."
"We had to take a detour." I shrugged. "There was an obstacle in the way, but we took care of it no problems. Isn't that right, JerKanda?"
"Hmpf. When do we leave to find the General?"
"We can leave tomorrow. We're heading towards Barcelona." Daisya stated, tossing the bell, and catching it in his grasp.
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While Daisya and Kanda were in their rooms, I was in mine, looking at myself in the mirror. I hadn't gotten a chance to see how different my eye was now, since it seemed to have evolved. "Like an Akuma would." I said out loud. "Does Innocence...evolve like the Akuma do?" Sighing, I decided to activate my right eye.
I looked in the mirror and studied the new curse of my Innocence. In front of my eye was now a rounded monocle, to which had grooves evenly spaced around it. There was an ancient symbol in each space, to which I was sure I'd seen somewhere before. It didn't take me long to remember. Although the markings were backwards in the reflection I could tell that these were in Greek. The one of the languages I knew nothing about. They were ancient symbols, and I was pretty sure Bookman would be able to read them. I would have to show him them whenever I had the chance.
I yawned, knowing that if I don't get to sleep now, Kanda and Daisya would probably leave me behind. I deactivated my eye, and flopped down on the bed, allowing sleep to take me to the realm of dreams.
So...you're wondering why I didn't update on time? Well...as I said life caught up with me. -shrugs- Also, being I won't be able to keep up with my previous schedule of updating anything anymore I'll just update whenever I get a chapter written and looked over. This is probably going to go with all my awesome stories...plus I'm a full time college student now. (I was a part-time student before)
Well, was it worth the wait? Love it? Hate it? Lote it? Please, please, please R&R! :D Free cookies for those who do!~ And maybe one of the characters will give you the cookie!~ (Well...Allen might eat it, and Kanda will probably murder me for making him do that...)