Author Notes: I just watched DGM episode 88; I have just realised what a huge mistake I've made in the story line… Panda and Lavi only arrive at the order after Lenalee and Komui's appearance at the order! D: Also, before I forgot to upload Chapter 21 (this is meant to be Chapter 22). And I accidentally deleted the file. I couldn't be bothered to re-do Chapter 21 again so I just put 22 as 21; fixed somethings and there you have it. A story that's been mended. XD
Disclaimer: I don't own D.Gray-Man or anything related to it.
The fire now blazed even a brighter shade of orange, red and yellow. An empty container stood beside it – it had once been filled to the brim with coal. Tiedoll used his hammer and chisel and the vines lurched into life once again. They wrapped around the hot metal and ripped off the top part of the furnace, exposing the bright monster to the air in the room. With the large amount of oxygen provided to the fire, it blazed even more strongly than before. The temperature in the room instantly increased.
Kanda slumped down onto the hard ground and watched with his cold eyes as the akuma squirmed in pain as parts of its body dissolved into gas. "Ah… Now who's the one without brains?" The Japanese boy tapped the side of his head lightly.
●Кαηδα Ġαιδεή●
Tiedoll pushed Kanda into a comfortable chair at the table that they usually enjoyed their meals at. All around him was darkness; he knew something fishy was going on today! The general had disappeared into the darkness around him. 'Now what is he up to…' Kanda grumbled inside his head.
Suddenly, he felt someone's presence as the person neared him. Turning in his chair to look at the direction that the person was coming from, he saw a total of thirteen candles standing on the smooth white surface of a cake which was decorated with fruits. There were strawberries, cherries and slices of kiwi fruit, mango and lots more. As the person who was still shrouded in darkness approached him, Kanda watched as the cake was placed gently onto the table. Soon, a high pitched and a low pitched voice started to sing, "Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you; happy birthday to Kanda! Happy birthday to you!" When the song ended, a small applause followed.
The lights flickered on, filling the room with light once again. "Make a wish, Kanda!" Mrs Ablewhite urged the young boy. Kanda blinked as Tiedoll also agreed and urged him to make a wish before blowing out the candles. He stared down at the cake aimlessly; pretending to be making a wish then blew out the candles on the cake.
"You're official thirteen, my beloved student!" Tiedoll embraced Kanda in a tight hug, making Kanda cough while his body was being constricted by an anaconda in the form of General Tiedoll. When his master had finally decided to release him, he then realised. It was the 6th of June – his birthday. He had been so busy lately with the Happy Prince's case that he had lost track of the date and the days that had gone by so quickly.
●Кαηδα Ġαιδεή●
Tiedoll waved vigorously at the disappearing image of Mrs Ablewhite who stood at the door of the inn, waving her handkerchief around in the air. They were once again hitting the road, travelling to other parts of the world. What does the big enormous world hold in store for master and student? Will they meet more people who were compatible with the Innocence or will they just travel for the rest of his training?
"How you feeling, birthday boy?" Tiedoll cheerfully asked his student. It has only been two days since his birthday, but perhaps the nickname seemed to successfully tick Kanda off everytime, Tiedoll has continued to use it.
Kanda grumbled, "Now what?"
"Nothing Just asking how you're doing, that's all!" Tiedoll replied energetically like a child going to a zoo, excited to see the different species of animals.
Despite it being only two days past his fourteenth birthday, Kanda was still in charge of driving the carriage. The pair had discussed where to go next, but the conversation had ended without an agreement or conclusion. So now they were basically just aimlessly wandering along the road.
When they stopped to rest for the night at a small village, Tiedoll told him about the Happy Prince. Tiedoll explained to his student how the prince's heart had refused to melt even in the high temperature of the furnace. That was how the general had come to the conclusion that the heart was the Innocence.
Next morning, they woke early and set off on their way once again – with the prince's heart safely inside the general's bag.
..:●Кαηδα Ġαιδεή●:..
Kanda curled up into a small ball on the bed on the large ship that sailed for Asia across the Pacific Ocean. This ship would arrive at the city of Tianjin which was just a hundred and twenty kilometres away from China's capital, Beijing or more commonly known in Europe as Peking.
Half a year ago, they had met a group of finders and two exorcists; both were Tiedoll's students coincidentally. The taller exorcist was Noise Marie and the shorter one who always seemed impatient with things was Daisya Barry; they had just completed their mission but was lacking transportation to go back to the Black Order, so the general decided to give them the carriage that Kanda and he had been using for the past half a year. This made it a gap of a year already ever since Kanda had completed his first mission at London regarding the weeping statue of the Happy Prince.
During the past year, he had grown taller and he had gained more muscles; his hair had also grown longer, the ends of his hair now reached the middle of his back – it wasn't much to be honest. What was more, his voice also grown slightly deeper compared to what his voice sounded like when he was a kid. It wasn't surprisingly, considering the fact that he was now fourteen years old. However, the general still treated him like a nine year old.
It was now in the middle of the night, most of the passengers of the ship have already retired to their cabins aboard the ship. Finding it quite difficult to sleep tonight, Kanda threw on his thick exorcist uniform and left his room, heading down the thin hallway towards the deck of the creaking ship.
He paused momentarily at the top of the wooden stair case to open the door that lead to the deck. The salty water of the Pacific Ocean sprayed onto the sides of the ship, covering the edges of the deck with sea water. The ocean wind travelled in between the masts, making soft whistling sounds as it passed. The whole ship creaked and bobbed up and down as it conquered every single wave of different sizes, both big and small. The fourteen year old carefully made his way to the tip of the bow spirit, keeping a hand on the flying jib at all times to prevent him from falling into the strong currents hidden beneath the surface of the dark sea that glittered faintly in the moonlight.
Kanda closed his eyes and let the nature flow into his body. The teenager took in a deep breath and let it out, releasing a small poof of warm air into the cold night ocean air. When he opened his eyes once more, he noticed just exactly how numerous the stars were; dotting the night sky, lighting up every single corner of the sky. It had always interested him; how on earth can humans see those distant planets that shone in the sky? They were merely just twinkles in the sky, rays of light that travelled from millions of light years away from this world that they lived in. Kanda let a small smile escape his lips; Mother Nature never fails to amaze him with her wondrous abilities.
●Кαηδα Ġαιδεή●
Kanda stepped off the ship lightly with Mugen close by his side. When his boots collided with the cement harbour, they made a small tap. He stared sleepily ahead; the jet lag had taken its toll on him. Passing the International Date Line wasn't exactly the best thing he had experienced.
Tiedoll wasn't looking all that great either. Like his student, the International Date Line has done nothing but make him more exhausted than he already was from the restless sea travelling. "Well then!" Tiedoll smiled half-energetically, "Shall we try and locate a place to rest for the rest of the day before the effects of the International Date Line harm us anymore?"