Author's Note: Thank you for the wonderful reviews. Can it be? Yes, two chapters back-to-back. :D I have no idea why either. Enjoy!
Chapter 12- Prominence
Allen woke with a start as something his forehead. He opened his eyes quickly to see Lavi grinning at him in the morning light. Allen slowly sat up, feeling something shift when he did. He looked to his right and froze up as Ledah was fast asleep next to him on his bed. Lavi chuckled slyly as he stared at Allen.
"You get around fast when I'm not around, huh?" he asked and Allen tried to punch him, but missed as Lavi leaned away calmly. Lavi laughed, stirring Ledah from her sleep before she sat up and yawned.
"Pardon me, I haven't slept in a few hundred…" Ledah trailed off as she noticed Lavi grinning at her and Allen. Ledah turned a bright red color in the face while Lavi chuckled. Moments later, Ledah fixed her collar embarrassedly while Lavi lay on the ground with a fist imprint on his cheek. Ledah pinned her hair up in the same messy bun that Lenalee wore her hair in while Allen shifted to see if Lavi was okay. "You will find that you have wounds of any sort so you can get out of bed."
Allen blinked a few times before eventually getting up and helping Lavi back to his feet. Lavi rubbed his cheek in pain while starring at Ledah. Lavi poked Allen in the shoulder and leaned closer to him.
"Why is the Seraph's sister here in your bed?" he asked quietly and Ledah glanced over to the two boys. She smiled sweetly to Lavi, who smiled back sheepishly. Ledah extended her hand.
"I am Ledah. Nice to meet you, boy," she said sweetly despite having swiftly punched Lavi in the other cheek. Lavi shakingly returned to his feet before inching away from Ledah.
"Ledah… Got it… Hello…" he murmured quietly not wanting to get punched again. Allen put his jacket on while he, Lavi, and Ledah left the infirmary silently so as to not alert the head nurse. Once out in the hallway, Lavi stretched his arms and legs happily. "Man, I have no idea what happened to me, but I feel great!"
Allen and Ledah watched Lavi warm up his arms and legs before Ledah glanced to Allen.
"I hope you don't mind that I helped your weird friend out as well. We need you at your best after all," Ledah said quietly and Allen turned his head to her in confusion.
"Who's "we"?"
"Never mind that." Lavi twirled around to grin at Allen and Ledah. The three walked down the hallway until someone literally flew out of an open doorway ahead of them. The person hit the wall and collapsed while shouting echoed out of the room. The three walked over and looked inside to see several people watching what appeared to be sparring. The crowd roared as another person was thrown past the roaring spectators. In the middle of the sparring area, Astaline cracked her knuckles with a grin on her face.
"Alright! Who's next?" Astaline shouted, making the crowd creep away from her. Astaline glared at the crowd before stomping away grumbling under her breath. Lavi and Allen walked into the room while Ledah stared after Astaline. Lavi chuckled before looking to Ledah.
"Hey, Ledah. Mind sparring with me?" he asked and Allen flinched before Ledah turned her head to Lavi.
"I don't mind. Further training of the body is important after all," she replied and followed Lavi into the center of the room. The crowd watched along with Allen as Lavi clenched his fists and swung one towards Ledah. Ledah flowingly leaned away from Lavi's fist before sidestepping a kick from Lavi. Lavi grinned as he continued to punch and kick at Ledah.
"Heh, you look just like the Seraph's sister. What exactly are you?" Lavi asked under his breath, using his strikes to keep his face away from any viewer. Ledah narrowed her eyes slightly at Lavi as she continued to easily dodge his swings.
"I'm quite sure I told you who I am. I'm Ledah."
"I didn't ask who you were though. I asked what you were." Ledah paused slightly and Lavi took the moment to swiftly kick at Ledah's head. Lavi grinned widely his leg was blocked by Ledah's arm and her other arm grabbed his leg. Ledah calmly flipped Lavi a couple of times before he hit his back against the floor hard. Ledah sighed quietly and fixed her collar while the crowd stared in surprise. Ledah looked down at Lavi icily as he gritted his teeth in pain.
"You're intelligent, boy. Don't waste time asking unanswerable questions," Ledah said curtly and returned to Allen with a sweet smile. Lavi rubbed the back of his head as he stood back up. He staggered over to Allen and grinned sheepishly to the crowd. Just then, someone ran into the room and towards Allen and Lavi.
"You two! Bak wants to see you!"
Allen and Lavi walked into the central room with the monitors as Ledah followed close behind Allen. Bak turned to the two boys and froze up when he noticed Ledah. Ledah stared back at Bak before hives suddenly erupted all over Bak's face. Bak fainted backwards while several people ran to get him.
"I'm Ledah," Ledah said for the third time that morning as Bak sat with a bag of ice on his forehead. He nodded slowly trying to avoid eye contact with Ledah while Lavi leaned down to Bak's ear.
"I found her in Allen's bed." Bak's face erupted into hives again while Lavi was yet again punched in the head. After recovering once more, Bak coughed to clear his throat, his bag of ice now resting on Lavi's face to keep the swelling down.
"Anyway, we got news that there will be a party held Yreka in a few days for the coming anniversary of the city. This is a perfect opportunity to grab some treasures from the attendants. Allen, I want you and Lavi to go seeing as you know Yreka best," Bak said and Lavi rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Yeah, but we were kind of driven out of there."
"It's only for one night," Bak countered and Lavi fell silent as Bak talked more. "Oh, and the boy that you found with Lavi, Allen, is named Timmy. Apparently, he had been kidnapped from his orphanage a few months ago. I'll keep you posted about him after he wakes up."
"So, you're a thief, boy? How sad."
"Allen's a thief too!" Lavi snapped bitterly as he walked ahead of Allen and Ledah as they walked through Akery to reach the transportation station. Allen chuckled as Ledah looked around at the buildings and talked out loud.
"This style of architect is Fon Gosh. Developed around fifty years ago, Fon Gosh was said to be a brilliant yet chaotic mind who liked to torture people while working on his pieces. Sometimes Fon Gosh would even places victims into his pieces as sort of surprises if any were to fall apart during an attack or old age. Fon Gosh was-"
"Is she always like this?" Lavi wondered quietly to Allen as Ledah continued to talk about the city's architect. Allen shrugged slightly and chuckled.
"I don't know, I've only met her last night."
"Huh? Man, you do work fast with the ladies," Lavi said until they turned a corner, but Allen and Lavi paused and quickly backtracked around the corner, confusing Ledah greatly.
"What's wrong?" she asked and Lavi gritted his teeth before sneaking a peek around the corner to where several black cars were with their occupants outside them talking calmly. Visible on all of their necks was the symbol for Creed.
"Adepts," Lavi whispered and Ledah stared at him in more confusion while Allen explained quietly to her about Creed. Ledah smiled softly after the explanation.
"So that's who this Seraph is. Well, these Adepts people don't seem very skilled."
"That's cause we sealed our Pures before heading out. If we didn't they'd be on us in a second," Lavi said and Ledah nodded slowly.
"And if they find you two are here?" she asked and Allen and Lavi both chuckled quietly without answering her question, but she got the idea from their grim faces. Ledah peeked out from around the corner and eyed the Adepts. "They all have those strange metal things on their waists too."
"It's called a gun. What planet are you from?" Lavi wondered quietly and Ledah sharply dug her heel into Lavi's foot. Lavi bit back a yelp before Ledah removed her foot and pouted cutely. Allen stared at the Adepts before looking back at Lavi.
"What do we do? This is the only route to the station," Allen said and Lavi put a hand to his forehead to think. Ledah stared at Lavi silently with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked to Allen a few seconds later and smiled sweetly.
"Perhaps this is a good time to learn a few things," she said and Allen raised an eyebrow before Ledah pushed him out from behind the corner, making him stumble slightly. Allen froze up as he felt several pairs of eyes on him then. He slowly looked to see every Adept staring at him intently. In a split second, their guns were out and firing at Allen as he dove behind a car parked across the street. Lavi clenched his teeth as some Adepts noticed him and started firing at the corner as well.
"Great job, Ledah!"
"Don't mention it," she said calmly before swiftly leaving the corner and appearing sitting down next to Allen across the street. Lavi's mouth fell open slightly as he hadn't even seen Ledah move. Allen looked to Ledah who smiled sweetly again.
"What did you do that for?" Allen asked and Ledah placed a hand on Allen's left hand. Allen looked to his left hand as Ledah silently removed his glove and bandages to let him see the black cross still etched on his palm. Ledah moved her collar down so Allen could see the one below her neck.
"Don't you remember? I told you that I'm your Power. Use me," she said calmly and Allen stared at Ledah utterly puzzled by her words. Ledah sighed quietly and closed her eyes. "Fine, I'll help the first time."
With that, Ledah took Allen's hand and held it up so she and Allen could both see the cross. Ledah placed her finger on the center of the black cross and traced the cross silently. When she finished, the window her head was leaning on shattered as one of the bullets had shot through it and into her head. Allen flinched, but paused as Ledah sighed quietly.
"That hurt," she muttered bitterly while the bullet fell harmlessly from where it had hit her head. Allen looked at the bullet before Ledah frowned and suddenly placed Allen's left hand on the cross below her neck. "Prominence."
The Adepts continued to fire at the car and corner while Lavi tried to look for an opening. He had his knife unsealed and unsheathed in his hand while gritting his teeth lightly. One of the Adepts laughed as he continuously fired at the car with a gun in each hand.
"Come on, rats! We know who you are! Give up!" he shouted and grinned before something fell onto his arms that had been raised. The Adept's eyes widened in shock as the end of his arms fell to the ground along with his guns as Allen stood on the large sword that had a black cross on the sides of the blade. Allen had a foot on the end of the gold hilt that had a cross attached to it while his other foot lay on the gold steel part of the blade that connected the blade to the hilt. The Adepts screamed in pain clutching at his still attached arms as Allen used his feet to push the sword out of the ground and into the air. Allen landed on the ground gracefully and caught the sword before swiftly twirling around, slashing all of the Adepts across the chests. They all fell to the ground groaning in agony from pain spreading throughout their bodies. Lavi ran out from behind the corner to Allen who stared at the large sword in surprise. Lavi grabbed Allen other arm and quickly hijacked one of the black cars the Adepts had. Lavi revved up the engine and quickly drove off while Allen sat in the back with a look of bewilderment on his face.
"What the hell was that? Where'd that sword come from?" Lavi snapped and before Allen could answer, the large sword in his hand started to steam before forming Ledah. The car lurched to the side as Lavi had lost control for a second there. "What the hell?!"
"Phew, that was exciting," Ledah said cheerfully as she sat calmly next to Allen while Allen stared at her. Lavi glared into the rearview mirror while driving out of Akery and onto the road leading to Yreka.
"Talk fast, what was that back there?" Lavi asked and Ledah frowned at Lavi.
"Must you speak to me like that?" she asked and Allen grimaced as he glanced from Lavi to Ledah. Ledah looked at Allen and sighed sadly before answering. "Prominence."
"And what the hell's that?"
"Prominence is a sort of password to use me."
"Use you?" Lavi wondered before looking back at the empty road. Keeping half an eye on the road, Lavi glanced to the rearview mirror. "What are you, Ledah?"
"That's not important to someone who isn't my user," Ledah said and looked to Allen. Allen gulped nervously and Ledah leaned back in the backseat with a quiet sigh. "I am a being capable of becoming a weapon when activated. You could call me a Human Pure. Whenever my user uses the password and fulfills a certain requirement, I can become my weapon state, which you both saw back there. In my weapon state, I can't harm humans physically, but I can create the illusion of pain wherever I slash them as seen back there."
"What requirement are you talking about? You mean that weird cross on Allen's hand and your neck?" Lavi asked and Allen flinched as the cross on his palm was visible to the rearview mirror. Ledah nodded slightly and fixed her collar so the cross was hidden. Ledah stared down at the car floor before letting her hand fall from her collar to her lap. Lavi returned his eye to the road while Ledah looked away from Allen.
"You saw my memories, Allen. What do you think about it? Vivid, isn't it?" Ledah asked and Allen nodded slowly.
"Very vivid. That happened in the past?"
"No… my memories are special. They show the future, not the past. What you saw will happen very soon," Ledah said and Allen's eyes widened before the car bumped slightly on something in the road. Allen looked out of the window while Ledah stared at her hands. Allen glanced to Ledah before taking a deep breath.
"This Power you mentioned, was it that sword?"
"Yes. The sword you saw before was just a template of sorts. It turned into what you saw back with the Adepts after your memories were imprinted into me. Of course, my human appearance changed along with the sword's," Ledah added and Lavi glanced to the rearview mirror silently. Allen nodded slowly and Ledah smiled softly to her hands.
"This may seem sudden, but you need to be stronger for what's to come, Allen," Ledah said and Allen raised an eyebrow at Ledah.
"That's right. You mentioned something like that last night. What exactly do you want me to go against?" Allen asked and Ledah let out a silent breath before staring at Allen with her violet eyes.
"You will have to go against the thing that created what you saw in my memories," Ledah stated and Allen shivered slightly as he recalled what the scene had looked like. He trembled slightly afterwards when he looked out of the window. Ledah went silent for a moment before smiling sweetly and putting a hand to Allen's shoulder. "Don't worry, we have time. Now how about you boys show me what this Yreka place is like?"
Lavi grinned widely and Allen chuckled softly before looking away from the window and to Lavi. Lavi glanced at the rearview mirror as Allen smiled.
"We can do that, right, Lavi?" Allen said and Ledah giggled softly making the two boys pause for a moment in surprise from her giggling. The car swerved suddenly and Lavi quickly grabbed at the wheel while Allen and Ledah laughed at him. A short while later, Lavi and Allen switched places and they continued towards Yreka while Lavi slept in the back seats. Ledah had moved to the passenger's seat next to Allen while looking around the interior of the car. Allen glanced to Ledah and took a deep breath.
"Mind if I ask you some things?"
"I have no qualms. Go ahead."
"That girl called Bel was the one that threw you to me. Does that make you a demon too?" Allen asked and Ledah sighed quietly with a smile.
"Reasonable question. No, I'm not. I'm just a weapon that was blessed by God. However, I doubt that demon knew that about me when she gave me to you. Do you know of the Book of Daniel?" Ledah asked and Allen shrugged slightly with a grimace.
"I've heard about it. Creed has it with them or so I've heard."
"Do you know the story of Babel?"
"Man built a tower out of arrogance and God destroyed it before splitting the language, right?" Allen said and Ledah nodded in agreement. "What does that have to do with you?"
"Not much. However, you should know what you're up against. As you know, or rather your soul knows, Cain killed Abel long ago after God rejected Cain's offering."
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Why do you think Cain killed Abel?" Ledah asked and Allen pursed his lips lightly while keeping his eyes on the road. Ledah didn't wait for an answer as she continued. "It's understandable that you don't know. However, know that Cain had no thought of killing Abel until a certain archangel appeared before him and suggested it to Cain."
Allen's eyes widened in surprise before he stared to Ledah.
"An archangel suggested to kill someone?" he asked in shock and Ledah nodded.
"This archangel was an evil minded one who has infinite hatred towards God. However, the archangel is sly. For he only suggested to Cain to kill Abel. In the end, Cain chose to follow the archangels' suggestion. Because of that, the archangel remained hidden until God realized what had occurred after Cain was banished. For his crime, the archangel was imprisoned into a world of complete darkness that was sure to corrode the angel into nothingness."
"Did it?" Allen asked and Ledah shook her head sadly.
"If it did, there would no reason for you to be here. The archangel lived but was still imprisoned within the darkness. But with the power he obtained from that prison, the archangel was still able to corrupt humans. The archangel corrupted the king of Babylon to construct the Tower of Babel, not to reach God, but to reach the seal that placed the archangel within his prison."
"That did work though, right? The story goes that the tower was destroyed."
"Yes, and the language was divided so humans could never do it again and also to keep the archangel from corrupting them. But that didn't stop the archangel from corrupting his descendants. Abraham, you know the story, was corrupted by the archangel to sacrifice his son to forcefully remove the seal on his prison. God intervened and then created the Book of Daniel, which the seal to the prison is sealed within its pages."
"A seal for a seal, huh? What happened after that?" Allen asked and Ledah frowned before lowering her head to stare at her lap.
"God was greatly weakened by His acts and became weakened. So he gave the humans the Book to hope that they would protect it. The humans obeyed as they themselves did not have the power to break the seal on the Book. However, this did not stop the archangel. Using the power from his prison, he created four demons, one of which from the soul of Cain that he had taken himself in exchange for the flesh and muscles of his right arm. Through the dark emotions of humans, the archangel was able to send his demons to the human world, but was still unable to send himself."
Allen blinked as sunlight hit the window, making him flinch from the light. Ledah ran a finger along her other palm before looking out of the window.
"The four demons, one of which you know as Bel XIII, came to the human world is hopes of finding the Book of Daniel and destroying the seals upon and within it. The other three demons were called the Three Fears, and symbolize what humans fear most. Time, Death, and Anarchy are what humans fear most. The thought of growing old and less likely to be treated fairly, the thought of what lies beyond death, and the thought of total and complete chaos. You've encountered two of the three Fears already."
"And was beaten by them badly. What of the Children?" Allen asked while remembering Tyki Mikk and Road Kamelot from their last time in Yreka. Ledah looked at Allen in confusion before shrugging.
"I've never heard of them. When the Book of Daniel was created, I was too as a holy sword in which to be given to the king of that time. Of course, I was stolen from my shrine by Bel XIII, who then a few hundred years later gave me to you," Ledah stated and Allen smiled slightly at the last part.
"So does that make you an "it" or a "she"?"
"Hmm, well correctly I'm an "it", but you could call me a "she" as this is my first thing in a human form. Though it's all up to you in the end," she said and Allen chuckled happily. Allen stared out towards the road until the tips of the buildings in Yreka appeared on the horizon.
"We're almost there. Now it's time to show you what Lavi and I can really do."
"I look forward to it," Ledah said and Allen grinned until pausing suddenly and his grin faded.
"By the way, what is this archangel's name? Is he the thing you want me to go against?"
"That's right, we need you to defeat him. His name is…"
I'm not going to tell you! XD Feel my evilness! And that was WAY too much talking! XO Next chapter will be more... "hands-on" so to speak. Review please. :)
