"Lavi."
The redhead turned to find his old mentor staring back at him. His hands were neatly knit within the long sleeves of his Exorcist uniform, his expression calm and unmoved.
"Lavi, we need to talk."
Lavi stared at him flatly. The last person he wanted to talk to was Bookman. The old man had hurt him so much. Lavi wasn't entirely certain how the old man had survived, yet Rhode had never said she had killed him, just that she'd learned much from his memories.
"You're too involved in this record," the old man pointed out harshly.
"So are you," Lavi shot back. This was beginning to sound like their previous conversation, and that one ended poorly.
"Lavi, let's close this record and move on," he offered.
Well that caught his attention. "Close the record?" Lavi stared, surprised he actually considered taking the offer. In a way, there was an emptiness in him that the old cranky man once filled.
Bookman had found the redhead with absolutely nothing, a child with no name and a strange eye. He offered him the world of hidden history and adopted him as his apprentice. Lavi couldn't have been happier than that day. He spent years with the old man, taking on various aliases and guises. At first, Lavi was a terrible actor, but as the aliases passed by, his skills improved. The old man also taught him useful skills, including first aid, several forms of martial arts, and cooking, although cooking neither ever could do successfully.
But three years ago, the man Lavi'd learned to rely on left without a word as to where he was going. That's when Lavi found a new family, the Noah. They were quirky and sometimes possessive, but they were family. He was their little human brother.
And only a few weeks ago, Lavi had found where his old man had gone. To the opposition. He'd been feeding the Order information about his own apprentice, which resulted in the Exorcists hunting him down like wild prey. So far, Lavi'd nearly lost his life three times and an arm once, because of him.
"Ya almost had me, old man," Lavi folded his arms. "I'm not done with my record yet."
Bookman remained expressionless. "Don't be stupid." A quick flick of the wrist and he slapped Lavi across the face. "Listen to yourself, idiot apprentice!"
Lavi tapped his cheek. Blood? Bookman had tips on his fingers as a form of his Innocence. While Bookman had smacked Lavi many times before for being an idiot, this time was different. It hurt on a whole new level. His heart still panged from their last encounter, and he'd developed a deep and severe hatred for Innocence.
"I'm leavin' now," Lavi stated bluntly, turning, but before he could make his leave, he found himself face to face with someone he'd never seen before. A blond man in a fitted suit with two curious spots on his forehead. Behind him stood Allen Walker, someone Lavi never wanted to see again. Lavi's expression hardened. It was a set-up.
"So you're the Noah's Bookman," the blond stated, not taking his eyes off Lavi.
Lavi grinned. He knew he had no chance of playing the simple Bookman card after what his old man had told the Order. They always knew. He never had a chance from the start. "That's a new name for me, Two-spots ."
His eyebrow twitched. "Two-spots?"
Lavi turned, ignoring the response from the blond. "I got business t' do. 'scuse me."
The blond sharply placed a hand on Lavi's shoulder.
"I'd rather not fight," Lavi objected, his expression falling flat. He had no idea what Allen was capable of, nor this new blond two-spotted character, and he didn't want to be on the receiving end to find out. After what the seemingly kindhearted Allen had done to Tyki, Lavi never wanted to fight him.
"We just want to talk," Allen finally spoke up. There was so much that needed to be said. He needed to know the truth. This redheaded Bookman was a mystery to him, as much as the reverse was true. After that verbal explosion in the tower of Noah's Ark, Allen was actually concerned about him.
Lavi glanced past the blond. The last person Lavi wanted to talk to was Allen. He'd caused enough trouble, luring him into a false sense of hope in the forest and playing the good guy while attempting to exorcise Tyki. "There's nothin' t' talk about." Why did everyone want to talk? Talking had gotten him nowhere so far. He had grown tired of talking to these Exorcists.
"What you said in the Ark, about Bookman," Allen spoke sincerely. "Bookman didn't say anything, just that he had an apprentice working on another record. No one knew where you were until about a year and a half ago."
Lavi stared flatly at Allen. That sounded a lot like something the old man would do, more so than feeding the Order information. But that left questions yet unanswered. "Yet you knew who I was before I even spoke."
"Bookman didn't say a thing. The generals figured it out," he replied. "Then I meet a human not being attacked by akuma. I pieced it together." Allen wasn't stupid. He could see the facts laid out before him.
Lavi paused. What if it were true? He turned to look at Bookman who simply nodded in reply. It was true. The old man didn't need to say a word to know that was what he meant. All that Bookman had said in the Ark only seemed to support it. Bookman was simply recording the other side so that the Clan had the full story. For now, he'd take that as truth. For now, he'd believe that Bookman was still the same person he knew.
The Order was another story. Kanda attempted to kill Lavi on several occasions. And Allen tried to kill Tyki. He couldn't trust the Order, no matter what they said. They'd gone too far. "And what 'bout Kanda's attempts t' kill me?"
Allen shook his head. "I can't explain that." He was visibly surprised to hear there was more than one attempt.
If only Lavi knew that the threat wasn't the Order but instead the Vatican. Central. It was they who put the hit out on him, using the one Exorcist had no qualms about killing the enemy. Lavi was too much of a threat for their plans. Both the blond and Bookman knew of this plan, and Bookman wanted to protect Lavi with everything he had. The old man considered telling Lavi of the underlying plot by the Vatican, but that sort of information might just push his apprentice over the edge. He wanted to salvage anything he could and return his apprentice to the junior Bookman he knew.
"Lavi," Bookman finally spoke up. "Consider what I said. Continuing on may be too dangerous."
"I'm finishin' my record, old man," Lavi stated calmly, turning to leave. If this were true, then his old man, his mentor, could be trusted. "After this war's over, we'll talk." By then, Lavi would be certain Bookman was still the mentor he knew.
In truth, he hoped the Noah would be victorious. Lavi would be able to record different histories that didn't involve the monotony of wars. And he wanted to see the Noah alive. However, he couldn't tell the Noah his conversation with Bookman and Allen just yet. He wasn't sure how they'd take it. Yet since Rhode had probed Bookman's mind, maybe she already knew.
The redhead left the group, considering both Allen and Bookman's words. He wanted to see this record through. This record was far too different than any other record he'd experienced. He'd invested a great deal into this and couldn't pull himself away. The Order and its Exorcists were his enemies. They tried to kill him. They took the old man's words, twisted them, and used them for their own sinister purposes. They deserved to die. Once Bookman was no longer one of them, then Lavi would return to his apprenticeship. But for now, he was with the Noah. It would be hard to separate himself from them, he wasn't even sure he could do it, but that was the life of a Bookman, moving from record to record. And perhaps he'd have lifetime allies with the Noah to help with his future records.
For now, he and the old man had to go their two separate ways, recording both sides of a secret war, one which was likely to kill the other side and the Bookman with it.
He rounded the corner to find Rhode plowing into him excitedly. This was why he couldn't leave yet. The Noah were his family, even if only temporarily. They protected him from the Order and told him of the hidden history. He'd revel in every moment he could spend with them.
"Lavi~ !" she exclaimed. "Where have you been?"
"Got delayed," Lavi smiled down at her.
Rhode reached up and brushed his cheek. "You're bleeding!"
"It's nothin'," Lavi shrugged it off. "Let's go get lunch, 'kay?"
She giggled then took his hand, dragging him off to meet with Cyril. She knew something had happened. It was obvious. But for once, she didn't pry and simply dragged him along.