21.
Water dripped, and echoes lingered, in this quiet place beneath.
Here, in this deep, water-filled cavern where the Black Order's hoard of Innocence was kept safe and secure by the oldest-known Innocence-Accommodater herself, Hevlaska.
Many years, she has held Innocence within her body, feeling the waves of power coming from the cubes, and hiding such serges of energy from the forever-searching akuma.
But, now ... things have changed.
Now, as she held the cubes of Innocence, now eggs, within herself, she felt not just their power.
She felt to stirring of restless young souls.
"Can we go now?" The restless bits of God asked. "Can we breath and fly and See and search?"
And, as she had told the Eggs when they first formed using comforting heat and warmth, "No. Not yet. You do not have a Heart yet."
Quietly, they dreamed. But, restlessly.
They wanted to go. They wanted to find new Chosen to bond with, to replace the ones they lost seven thousand years ago. To see what Darkness has done to the world they have not seen in so long.
They wanted to see for themselves if Humans have learned from their past Sins.
"Soon." Hevlaska said to quiet them all. "Soon."
A few Fragments would not be quieted in this fashion. They felt the ones-they-wanted nearby, and wanted out.
Out into the alien world.
Out to face the War.
Out to fight and rend the akuma that Humans made so tragically.
Now.
//DRDRDR//
Inside the darkened room, an old, worn clock tick-ed quietly into the silence, dutifully marking each moment as it passed, even if the soul occupant of the room wasn't currently awake to inquire the time.
Even though no one had any use for it at the moment, the clock kept ticking anyway, because someone would probably need to know what the human-made time was (6:18 AM, by the way) at some point. Clocks just worked that way: marking all time until they could no longer function.
The clock was set on top of the nightstand, one of the only pieces of furniture in the otherwise bare room. The occupant didn't mind it that way, and kept only one item especially for himself: a creepy painting hanging on one of the mostly-empty walls.
Speaking of the owner of the room, he was a lump under the bed covers at this early hour the clock was showing for all to see. The only visible parts of him were a head covered in messy white hair and an out-thrown right arm dangling from the bedside (though the bed was large, the teen had somehow managed to roll over to the extreme edge of the mattress).
But, in the early stillness of the morning, something moved, creeping into the room.
The Exorcists slept on, unaware of the small intruder.
Little wings flapped and the intruding creature hovered over the white mop of hair, poking the Exorcist's shoulder with it's tail.
Allen grumbled, then snuggled deeper into his bedding, using the no-longer-dangling pale arm to hug the sheets closer to himself.
The intruder, annoyed, did a dive-bomb into the sleeper's side, causing the teen to fall off the bed with an undignified yelp. And, for several comical moments, Allen Walker wrestled with the blankets that had managed to trap him and wonder in a half-asleep daze just what the hell was going on.
By the time he had untangled himself from the python-sheets and blinked back up at his bed a very familiar golem was grinning down with a set of very sharp-looking teeth.
Allen stared in disbelief for a moment, then smiled widely back. "Timcampy!"
The golden golem flew over to Allen, the Exorcist still half-tangled and sitting on the floor, landing into to nest-like bedhair.
The Exorcist was surprised at the golem's size and weight. "Where have you been?" He asked Tim, petting the golem on top of his head.
Timcampy spat out a wad of paper onto Allen's lap to answer the question.
Curiously, but with some dread as well, the teen read what was on the bits of stationary.
Bills.
"Ah ..." Allen's white eyebrow twitched. "... so that's where you've been ..." Then the Exorcists noticed just how heavy the golem on his head was. "Just what has Cross been feeding you?"
Tim ignored the question and snuggled deeper into the Exorcist's white hair, getting comfortable.
Allen sighed, looked at the clock, and groaned.
"Tiiim," He complained to the golem, getting up and stretching. "Why did you have to get me up so early?" The teen opened up the drapes covering his window, and blinked into the dreary rain-splattered landscape. "The sun isn't even up yet!"
Timcampy apparently didn't care about the hour, and just sat quietly while Allen's belly began to rumble.
Allen sighed, and began to take off his loose pajamas in favor of his new uniform. The fabric was different from what he was used too, and the outfit had red lining to go along with the normal black color, but Allen was used to trying different uniforms.
This one was ... what, the fourth uniform he had gotten while working for the Order? And that wasn't counting the ones that were destroyed and had to be replaced ...
Goaded by his growling belly, Allen dared to try the hallways in search of the Cafeteria.
This place was different from the last HQ too, the hallways were narrower, and there were less stairs to be transversed. But, to the dismay of all those directionally-challenged, it was a lot more like a maze.
Though there was one up side for looking for the Cafeteria specifically, you could follow your nose if you got close enough ...
So, Allen was trying to do just that. Curiously sniffing here and there, eyes partially closed and golden golem on his head like some sort of religious hat ...
//DRDRDR//
Link was amazed.
And tired.
The Inspector had left the blue dragon to help himself to the Library, after sitting up almost all night helping Luke to understand some of the bigger words. But, once they had found a dictionary, the dragon hadn't needed much help, and Link found himself with two choices.
Breakfast, or Bed.
The Inspector had gone nights without sleep before, but not in a long while. And the same could be said about food deprivation.
While pondering, Link noticed that someone else was walking in the direction of the Cafeteria, sniffing his way forward. Howard sighed tiredly, and asked Walker just what he was doing.
The Exorcist jumped, having not noticed Link, having been so engrossed in looking for food before.
The Inspector narrowed his eyes when he saw the dreaded golden golem on the teen's head.
There was a moment of silence.
"Um ... hi?" Allen tried.
"Mh." Link acknowledged. He didn't want to use too many full words or sentences after a night of explaining them to a small undergrown blue dragon.
"Are you going to get some Breakfast too?" The teen asked, sounding a bit hopeful. If the Inspector guided him to the Cafeteria, he wouldn't have to follow his nose the whole way.
Link noted the Exorcist's slightly desperate look, and elected to have Breakfast before bed. So, off the two (plus golem) went.
//DRDRDR//
Arystar Krory the Third sneezed.
Rubbing carefully at his nose, the pale man sniffed, and surveyed his Breakfast. The mound of scrambled eggs, sausages, pancakes, and bacon would have looked impossible to eat to any normal person, but, then again, Krory wasn't exactly 'normal,' now was he?
Krory had the table (and most of the Cafeteria) to himself, because of the early hour that he was there. And, possibly because of the overcast skies outside, as dreary mornings tended to encourage people to sleep in.
Well, most people, naming the ones without Parasitic Type Innocence that demanded to be fed.
The pale man was slightly nervous. Maybe it was because of the dazed looking man with messy brown hair eating all of Krory's pancakes ...
But, one voice echoing in the large mostly-empty room caused both eaters to turn towards the source. "Krory!"
The named man smiled, and offered the seat next to him to Allen as the boy walked up. Link glared at the Crazy eating pancakes before sitting next to Lewis.
Allen also noticed Lewis, alone and unsupervised, and the boy asked Krory if he had seen Toma in a slightly confused tone.
After a bit of conversing, and eating, it was gathered that Lewis had come into the Cafeteria without anyone, even though Link had seen the Crazy leave the Library in the company of the Finder earlier.
Strange. Where had Toma gone?
Lewis just ate Krory's pancakes and stared blankly ahead.
So the four ate their Breakfast, wondering about quite a few strange things and whether or not to try to question the Crazy on the whereabouts of the Finder, when they all turned to see the very Finder they had been wondering about stumble in, a man in a lab coat being pulled in behind him.
"I left him in his room--" Toma was saying, "--he couldn't have wandered far--" It was obvious who the Finder was talking about, especially when Toma pointed Lewis out. "--see? He's the one with brown hair ..."
The two joined the group, and the tired and Quiet looking Scientist began looking Lewis over. The Crazy didn't object, not even when pulled away from his pancakes, and just sat docilely while the Scientist carefully took his temperature, pressing his hand against the Crazy's forehead.
"Yes ..." The Scientist told Toma and the curious group Quietly. "The man does have a fever, though he probably isn't too sick if his appetite isn't affected." The Scientist then turned formally to address the group. "Now, as I was asking this Finder, have any of you seen a green dragon anywhere about ... ?"
Allen, after swallowing (as nothing short of a full-scale attack could get the Exorcist to stop eating when hungry), asked: "Why are you looking for Gremlin?"
The Scientist covered a yawn, looking just as tired as Link did, and twice as rumpled. "Well, the creature walked in on an important experiment ... it almost caused my coworker to cut an artery accidentally when it popped up unexpectedly ... and, as it seems this isn't the first such occurrence involving the dragon and damage ... well, you see ..." The Scientist looked sheepish. "It has been ordered that the creature must be confined until ... the bad habits can be trained out ..."
Lewis, now not being looked over, was about to go back to eating, but elected to stare at Krory and Allen instead, apparently fascinated by the two Exorcists.
Everyone else was silent, absorbing the information. Though Link already knew what the Scientist was asking, the Inspector still seemed suspicious of what was truly intended.
Krory looked slightly confused. "What is an artery, exactly?"
"A vein." Was the Quiet answer. "If it had been cut, the experimental subject could have bled to death within moments."
The pale Exorcist chew thoughtfully for a moment. "Just what sort of experiment involves arteries?"
"..." That was a good question.
Lewis blinked slowly, still staring. Krory and Allen were a little creeped out ... but only a little. Lewis may have been one kind of Crazy, but Noahs and akumas were at least a thousand times worse, and the two Exorcists had faced both.
"The experiment we were working on is classified, I'm afraid ..." The Quiet man turned back to Toma, nullifying any further questions. "I'll go get some medicine for ... Lewis' fever. Wait here please ..."
The Scientist scurried away without looking back.
//DRDRDR//
Gremlin grumbled, very displeased with his situation. Sure, the dragon had technically brought all of this down upon himself (and inconvenienced several others in the process) but Gremlin ignored that little fragment of a fact.
All the green cared about was the fact that the Mean People were doing Wrong, and no other human was putting their Wrongs back into the Right. And, the dragon really wished that he had gathered some softer shiny things earlier, as he now had to hide himself with his horde in Komui's sleeping room ...
//DRDRDR//
The Quiet Scientist sighed to himself. Why did it have to happen this way ... and so dramatically too? He had known that sounding the alarm after seeing the green gapping at him while working would cause a ruckus ... but not like this.
At least three, three, Crow agents were patrolling the halls now, carefully searching for the dragon and armed with the means to capture it.
The Quiet man knew the method of capture for the beast would be non-fatal ... but that was all. The scientist shivered, counting his sins one by one. After having the chance to speak to the black beast, it was only now horribly apparent just how smart, even sentinel, these things were.
The blue they had been given before had been different from the other creatures of Innocence, the Quiet Scientist realized. It had been covered in softer scales, and was far less violent, even when being hurt. And it had never spoken once, before or after they cut out the largest and softest part they could find: it's tongue.
All of them were different, though the Quiet man believed that only those that were close to the creatures would notice just how greatly they differed.. Each had a unique personality and color, and specific abilities.
The Quiet man was beginning to wonder if there was a reason for each and every one of them, down the the 'useless' runts, and that they would all have to be used in their own way, in the End ...
He grabbed the fever medicine when he found it, and ran back without bothering to even greet the nurses station for the early morning shift.
What the Finder had said confused him even more-so. So far, the living Innocence had shown preference to those already 'chosen by God,' the Exorcists. Though, the Supervisor had been the one exception, and his creature had turned out to be small and bothersome, giving the limited facts as they were evidence to point to inferiority.
But ... Lewis was neither an important member of the Order, or even in his right mind, but had a living 'weapon' that functioned perfectly well, being that the dragon was both large and eager to fight.
Why had the crazy man been chosen? The Quiet man then rebuked himself for having such stupid thoughts. Innocence didn't chose according to reason ... it Chosen according to ... well, something else.
//DRDRDR//
Allen swallowed his last bite, trying not to look across the table where the Crazy was staring at him over his mound of now-empty dishes. Krory was talking to Toma, obviously glad to be ignored by Lewis, and Link was staring at something with a blank look--
Wait.
The Exorcists did a double take. Link, strict Inspector who always payed attention to everything, was day-dreaming?
Allen blinked, putting his eating utensils down and letting Timcampy lick the plate free of any stray crumbs or sauces.
... Weird. Allen thought that the Inspector was only like that when getting up in the morning, or when he was tired.
And, Lewis was still staring at him. The snow-haired Exorcist rose, gathering his plates to bring them to the to-be-washed pile, when the Crazy broke his stare abruptly, and placed his head onto the table with a dull thunk.
Conversation stopped and heads turned at the echoing sound.
"Sir Lewis," Toma asked, walking around the side of the table and over to his charge. "Are you alright?"
The Crazy didn't speak, or move.
Toma put a had on the man's shoulder, and shook gently.
Link watched with a look that said he had other, higher, concerns on his mind at the moment, while Krory seemed concerned and Allen stayed standing.
Toma checked the young man's temperature at the back of his neck, and sighed. "Sir Lewis' condition seems to be worsening ..." The Finder noted.
The Scientist/doctor came running in then, as if knowing speed was needed. The Quiet man quickly assessed the situation and popped out two pills from the bottle he had brought.
Allen, knowing water would be needed to swallow the pills down properly and already standing, quickly went off to get a glass.
Both Toma and the Quiet Scientist tried coaxing Lewis to sit up.
The Crazy didn't even acknowledge their presence.
The Quiet man sighed, thinking. "He does not respond to his name much."
"No." Toma agreed, shaking his half-bandaged head sadly. "Sir Lewis does not."
"Does he respond to other things?"
The Finder thought for a moment. "Pancakes?" Toma tried. No good.
Next. "Larg?" There was a faint movement that could have been nothing more than the Crazy breathing.
Allen got back, and brought the water to Toma. The Finder excepted the glass with a 'thank-you,' and turned to put it down only to find Lewis upright in an almost erect pose, staring at Allen again.
The Quiet Scientist jumped on the opportunity and handed Walker both the medicine and water. "Lewis obviously likes you--" The man explained Quietly, somehow overriding Allen's slightly louder protests. "--just try to get him to take the medicine. Please."
The Exorcist sighed, but with several encouraging glances from the others (mostly Krory, who looked like he was only here now as to not abandon Allen to the task, and Toma, who really wanted Sir Lewis to be alright, Crazy or not), got closer to Lewis with the pills in hand.
Now ... onto the important question ... how to get Lewis to take the pills?
Allen offered the young man staring intently at his face the two pills in his hand. Lewis didn't take his eyes from Allen's face.
The Exorcist swallowed nervously, and slowly waved the pills in Lewis's line of vision.
The Crazy blinked, wide eyes drooping slightly.
Allen slowly held out he hand with the medicine, still within the young man's line of sight. Lewis was now staring at the pills, looking curious.
The Exorcist held the medicine still closer, and the Crazy took them in hand, head cocked.
Allen mimed gulping down the pills, bringing his hand to his mouth and swallowing as if he still had the medicine.
Lewis blinked, then copied the action, only with the actual pills. Allen quickly anded the Crazy the water, surprised his ploy had actually worked.
The ragged skeleton drank down the liquid, much to the satisfaction of the Quiet man. "I told you he liked you." The Scientist said, giving Toma the rest of the medicine, just in case the fever didn't go down right away. "I think it might be because of that particular scar you have on your face ..." He added, still Quiet.
Allen blinked, tracing his curse with hesitant fingers.
Lewis giggled a bit, still watching Allen, and mimed that action too. "ReeEd." The Crazy man said.
//DRDRDR//
The guard was nervous.
The Crow was furious.
The dragon the size of a large dog ignored them both, and walked down the hall as if it owned the place.
"We were looking for a green dragon--" The guard objected.
"And we are to ignore this beast parading about the halls?" The Crow hissed, pulling out some sort of talisman from its sleeve.
"Well no, but--" The guard bumbled out, truly hoping the Crow wouldn't agitate the creature that looked like it could slaughter them both ...
But, before the Crow could even begin to use his tools and while he was snapping at the guard, the purple tail of the thing they were following whipped out and knocked the masked man, hard, upside the head, causing the annoyed sorcerer to fall to the floor before he even realized what had happened to him.
The guard gawked at the twin grinning heads, and ran.
One of the horned heads laughed, and the other sniffed, searching for what had woken him/them up.
The two shook their wingless body and yawned, walking on. They were sleepy after devouring several cold tons of meat they had found, but wanted to find the Chosen they felt nearby before finding a place to sleep.
It wasn't every day a violet dragon got to walk around a world they hadn't been awake to see in seven-thousand years, and this one (two?) wanted to enjoy itself.
Before its nap, anyway ...
//DRDRDR//
Gremlin growled softly, squeezing himself in ways the dragon did not normally want to be squeezed. The green was widening out his 'lair,' and making more tunnels.
The goal for today was to get all the way to Brother's Office, so that he could come and go from the two room's more easily, without having to hide in Brother's hat the whole time.
Of course, the problem with that plan was that Gremlin had to erode the wall plaster and brick without making it seem that the walls were actually damaged, and that could be tricky, especially without knowing exactly where the wall met hallway, or another wall.
Now, Gremlin wondered to himself, huffing. Was the next foot or space in front of him a solid wall, or air ...?
//DRDRDR//
Krory walked the quiet hallway by himself, having left the others to escort Lewis to a room where the Crazy youth could sleep off the fever.
The pale man, himself, was not feeling quite right. Ever sense learning his new 'ability' with his Innocence involving him completely leaving his body, he had felt ... strange. Like his skin was just an impediment, or a thin wrapping for his blood. As if his blood was now more comfortable outside of his skin instead of inside it.
The pale man shivered, and rubbed at his arms.
Each heartbeat was felt clearly as blood was circulated, and tingled with oxygen as it spread to the designated parts of the body, making him feel strangely ... aware of himself.
The only time the feeling changed was when he had fought akuma ... then his teeth ached, his blood itched, and his heart pounded.
Krory sighed, then stopped. He stayed carefully still, listening.
What is that? Arystar wondered, focusing on the strange sounds he heard. It sounds like someone walking ... and dragging something?
"He was here!" One voice exclaimed loudly and closely, making the Exorcist flinch. "He was, he was, he was!"
A sigh was heard, and Krory blinked, realizing the two voices must be coming from just around the next corner. "He was, or he is, more Exuberant Me?"
"Was." The second voice answered. "I never forget what was, never never never, O more Reserved Me."
And then they ... it, walked around the corner, and Krory gapped.
Wow. Don't see that every day.
Two heads stared at him from one purple and scaled body, one grinning and the other just smiling.
"See?" The grinning one asked the smiling head.
"See." The smiling dragon head nodded. "Now, I believe people greet one another with, 'good day,' so 'good day' to you, O Sir that we Choose."
Both heads bowed, giving Arystar a good view of their violet horns and smooth scaly back, bare of wings. The heads rose, and the Exorcist realized that the creature wasn't very large, and both heads only came up to his mid-abdomen.
"So," The grinning head said, "We went to a room then."
"..." Krory was still not exactly sure on how to respond to speaking to him, purple, two-headed, or otherwise.
The smiling head nudged the grinning one. "Please stop speaking nonsense, it does not become you to confuse the one we Choose, you know."
The grinner laughed. "I knew."
The smiler rolled his eyes. "Know?"
"Knew!"
Krory sighed, and both heads swiveled to him again.
"I think we--" "--confused him?" The two seemed to be running thoughts and sentences together at the same time, and they stared a look. "Really?--" "--Yes, really!"
"Well, yes." Arystar told the two ... one ... two? "I do find you two a bit ... confusing."
The two nodded in unison. "Well, maybe we can--" "--get something too eat--" "--soon?"
Krory, after looking between to two heads as each spoke, was feeling more frazzled by the minuet, gulped.
The two heads noted how pale the man was. "Oh, well maybe--" "--later then?"
The Exorcist just nodded, and beckoned the two ... one ... gah, two, to follow him to the Supervisor's Office to notify Komui that there was now one more dragon in residence.
END 21.
AN: Well. Back to the 'main' characters again. I like writing Allen, he's a very modifiable character. Link, too has an interesting personality, but Krory ... man, I don't know why, but he's a bit hard for me to write, though he was easier (slightly) this time around ... Hmm, my chapters are getting shorter ... maybe that's because the plot is more straightforward at this point in time, and I'm trying to limit the number of characters in scenes.
Though, the dragons just keep multiplying ... I can't help myself.
Oh well, I'll have to send them out on missions soon anyway, might as well enjoy the times I get to put all of my little hatchlings together ... (Komui: Little? They're eating us out of house and paycheck you horrible person!)
Now, if only I had a name for this new two-headed purple thing ... things ... one, two? Suggestions/comments?
See you all 4-27-09 everyone!
-knux33