Chapter 25
Lavi groaned. His throat was parched, he was sweating bullets, and he silently cursed Germany's weather.
"WHY IS IT SO DAMN HOT?!" He shouted to the sky, fake tears running down his cheeks.
"Lavi-chan, don't waste your tears for nothing~!" Allen placed a hand to his heart, his expression turning into one that couldn't stand to see a loved one hurt. His free hand reached for Lavi's face, before caressing it.
"Oi! If you guys want to do that, then it's fine, but do it when you get a room!" Eliza appeared in between the two exorcists, pushing them apart. They pouted; annoyed that she'd destroyed their fun.
It was a really hot day, with melting trees and scorching grounds.
"How are we supposed to do our mission now?" The red head kept groaning.
"Oh, just shut up for now. Didn't it say in the files that the trees provided really good shade? Get a move on and you'll reach it in no time." Eliza glared down at the red head.
Lavi stared back at the shorter girl and cocked his head to the side. She really wasn't that scary anymore when she glared, but that may just be him.
Eliza raised a brow as he stared, but payed it no heed, turning around and marching on. Lenalee sweat-dropped; her fellow exorcists were really weird sometimes.
"Oh! There it is!" Lavi and Allen simultaneously pointed into the distance where a huge forest of trees were, high fiving each other at how they found it at the same time. That meant that they—
"HERE WE COME, RELAXATION!" They bolted off into the direction of the trees, leaving the girls behind.
They exchanged a look before running after them and entering the forest.
Eliza's caught sight of an old and worn sign, placed behind ferns. She glanced at Lenalee, she was walking now, but slowly. Eliza could catch up easily. She decided to see what the sign said, pushing the leaves out of the way before seeing thick red writing on the wood.
BEWARE OF THE MONSTERS.
Monsters? Eliza sighed, this sign must be really old – I'm pretty sure that everyone knows that these monsters are probably only akuma.
Eliza quickly went off after Lenalee, not noticing that the thick red writing had peeled off, revealing the real words written behind.
THEY WILL NOT FORGIVE.
"Lavi? Allen?" Lenalee called, jumping over low branches and ducking over high ones. She heard the rushing of water and her eyes widened. It was the sound of a waterfall. Quickly, she went into the small clearing and found that Allen and Lavi were already there, soaking in the cool water.
"Hey – Lenalee, wait up!" Eliza struggled to avoid branches, often tripping and falling on her face, "Huh? Why did you stop?"
She went and stood next to Lenalee, before staring with a raised eyebrow at the two males that had taken off their shirts and pants, leaving only their undergarments.
"What the hell are you doing?" Eliza gave them a look of complete weirdness. It was a mix of all emotions, one minute a look of annoyance flashed, then the next minute it would be one of shock.
"Hey, why don't you join us?! THE WATERS SO FREAKING AMAZING!" Allen and Lavi waved to the two girls, who had walked to the side, taking off the jacket and dipping their legs in the water to cool off.
"Hey, Eliza! Come swim with us!" Lavi floated on the water, his eyes closed and his legs lightly hitting the water to keep him afloat.
"Are you trying to pick me up? This ain't no bar, kid." She snapped.
Lavi suddenly jerked and he sunk underneath the surface, before coming up, his face red while shaking his head, "N-N-N-N-NOOOOO! I mean it as, 'it's a hot day, why don't you swim to cool off'! I meant it that way, not the other way!" Lavi stammered, lowering himself into the water.
"Sure, sure." Eliza gave him an amused look, grinning at how she managed to get him all hyped up.
Lavi frowned, his blush deepening as he made his way to the waterfall to cool his head off. It splashed onto his face and head, cooling it down very quickly.
He opening his eyes slightly, staring at his hand that had moved from his side to in front of him, in an open palm. He squeezed it into a fist.
"What the hell was that…" He murmured, seeing Eliza's amused face flash in his mind. He shook his head and tried to clear it, but the image remained, burned into memory.
Dammit, why am I like this? Do I like her or something? No way; she's loud, hits people and jokes around a lot, but her laughter is what makes me happy…and her smile – WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING?! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT!
Lavi held both sides of his head and shouted one word repeatedly, "OUT!"
He wanted to get Eliza out of his mind, out of his head and everything else she associated with him that made him go red.
"My my…why would you want us out?" A deep, husky voice was loud and playful, resonating through all the exorcists' ears.
Lavi's green eyes widened and he saw a slender figure in front of him, a shiny blue level 3 akuma.
His hands moved on instinct, trying to get out his Innocence, only to find that he had taken all his clothes off except for the boxers. He clenched his jaw and quickly retreated to get his Innocence. He scrambled up the rocks where Lenalee and Eliza were, searching through his stuff before getting it.
"What was that voice?" Eliza asked, quirking a brow.
"Akuma…" Allen's left eye reacted quickly, spotting the akuma from behind the waterfall, "There's a cave behind that waterfall."
"What?" Lavi's voice was low and he stared at the clear flowing waters.
Allen got out, but just as he did, the water became a bright red that rivalled the colour of fresh blood. A head peeked out of the waterfall, coming out slowly, showing the metallic armour of the blue akuma.
"My my, we have all the exorcists here…" It spoke.
The words brought a shiver down Eliza's spine. She felt as though she's seen this akuma before, but not sure where.
"Let's take this guy down!" Lavi enlarged his Innocence and got ready.
Now completely out of the waterfall, the blue akuma floated in mid-air, staring at Eliza. Although it had no eyes, just like every other level 3, she could feel the glare that it gave her.
"I don't think that's a good idea, haha!" Another voice was heard, but from behind them, emerging from the forest. This one was a pink one, with a large dent in its stomach.
Their heartbeats had quickened, with one thing on each of their minds.
There were 2 akuma, both level 3.
Allen felt his eye reacting to something from his left. It was another one, "Come out, akuma." He spoke clearly.
"Ah…very smart…" A red coloured akuma crushed the twigs that blocked his way, snapping them in half just like how he would to an exorcist.
"3 akuma…" Lenalee whispered, eyes darting from side to side.
"Shit…" Lavi cursed.
"Hehehehe you stupid exorcists are no match for us! We're level 3! HAHA!" The pink one screeched, holding its stomach from laughter.
"I'll get straight to the point. Give us Eliza Rickards, and we'll leave you unharmed." The red one spoke in a deep voice, giving off a feel of superiority.
"Me…?" Eliza felt sick. She remembered the words that the Millennium Earl told her back when they fought Arcana – that they'd come back for her.
"Is this what he meant – about getting me back?" She whispered to herself, unknowingly saying it louder than she thought. Her heartbeat became faster and her breathing quickened. She didn't want to go to the Earl. She'd be killed off after she's been captured.
"Ha…you're well informed. We've come to collect." It said the last word with a click of the tongue.
"No…NO!" Worse scene scenarios flashed through her mind, from the akuma taking her away and the Earl killing her, to her fellow exorcist friends dying right in front of her eyes.
If I want to live, I've got to fight for it!
I won't die here.
Millennium Earl, I'm so gonna kick your ass!
JUST YOU WAIT.
Eliza got out her Innocence, acting quickly so that the others could follow.
She attacked.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" The pink akuma screeched, feeling the hammer become heavier the more strength Eliza put into it, "You're going to crush me at this rate!"
"No shit, Sherlock!" Eliza sarcastically spoke.
Lenalee activated her dark boots. She saw that Allen and Lavi had already gotten a fight with the blue akuma, while the red one was just sitting around, doing nothing. It saw that Lenalee was staring and pointed to the pink akuma.
"Why don't you join your friend over there?" It spoke, "She may need some help."
Lenalee's eyes narrowed slightly. Why was it talking to her as if it wasn't going to participate in battle? What was this akuma's goal?
The akuma noticed that she doubted it, and chuckled deeply, "I will not surprise attack any one of you. I keep my word. Worry about me later."
The Chinese exorcist pursed her lips and kicked the pink akuma with her boots, sending it into the ground. Eliza had moved her hammer out of the way, and she came crashing down onto the akuma.
Unfortunately, it had stopped Lenalee's attack, grabbing her leg and throwing her to a tree. She managed to avoid hitting it and jumped on it instead, accelerating with her boots to get back at the akuma. She kicked the akuma in the already made dent. The akuma blocked the attack, but skidded on the ground from the recoil. It wasn't expecting that Eliza was behind it and used her spike ball and hammer to directly pound her resolve to not go with them into the akuma. She continually hit it in a flurry of rage. The blood splattered onto her cheeks, arms and legs in specks, turning black afterwards. Hitting the akuma with the hammer one last time, Lenalee jumped up, higher and higher, before crushing the pink akuma under the hammer and her multiplied weight.
"Is it done for?" Eliza asked.
Lenalee got off, but saw that the fingers of the pink akuma were wrapped on the outside of the rim. It slowly lifted off the hammer, throwing it to the side, standing up slowly, with its armour full of cracks.
"You really had me done in there…" It cracked its neck to the side and spat out some blood, before going in to claw Eliza on the arm, giving her a deep wound that bled vivaciously. Eliza's eyes bobbled out of her head – she was shocked at how much damage the akuma had done from just one swipe of the claw.
Lenalee quickly took over and diverted its attention from Eliza. Eliza was starting to feel dizzy from the quick loss of blood, then wrapped a towel around it to stop it from bleeding.
Thank goodness it's only my left arm…
She sighed in relief. She calmed herself down and tried to control herself in case she faints – Eliza gripped onto her hammer with her left arm, careful not to move it much, and held the chain and ball in the other.
Come on, Innocence…I really need you to become stronger, so that I can beat that demon!
Then give me some of your blood.
Eliza blinked, then quickly looked around, wondering where the voice was from.
I'm your Innocence – just give me a little of your blood, and then I'll be able to give you a strength boost.
Eliza raised an eyebrow but was quick to do that. Once her blood dripped onto the spike ball, the Innocence started to glow a bright light. The hammer and spike ball began to morph into a different shape, quickly changing in size from big to small. The final result was 2 swords connected by the chain. One sword was one edged, so only one side was sharp. The other sword was the same, but the blunt edge had spikes. The light faded.
"Woah." Eliza commented, not quite absorbing it. It was such a cool looking Innocence.
This…is your real Innocence.
"A new Innocence?" She spoke aloud, "Time to check this thing out!"
She went towards the pink akuma, getting ready to strike. She wrapped part of the chain around her wrist and flung the sword at the akuma, which it dodged. Eliza smirked and changed the direction of the sword, making it wrap around the neck of the akuma. She went in for the kill, striking it down and cutting it on half.
"Hehehe…I was beaten by a little girl…" It laughed before it crumbled to ashes in a heap on the ground.
Everybody glanced at Eliza's direction – she had defeated the first level 3 akuma.
"She did it…" Lenalee's mouth gaped open. She was amazed.
Lavi and Allen stared at Eliza's new Innocence, and the pile of ashes.
"Cheh." The blue akuma spat, shaking its head, "Stupid piece of shit…" He vented out his anger at Allen and Lavi, who were still in the middle of battling the level 3. It was one of the stronger level 3's compared to the others that they've faced. This might mean that they're been around longer, serving the Earl. Maybe they were nearly a level 4 akuma?
Lenalee went over to Eliza, checking her wound and examining the 'original' Innocence. She clearly remembered what happened when it was being morphed into it – Eliza seemed as though she was talking to herself. But she wasn't.
"Come on, let's help Allen and Lavi."
"Interesting…" The red akuma tapped its chin and crossed its arms, "Who knew, that Alyster-boy had hidden the real form of the Innocence inside a fake outer shell of another? Or was it the evolution of one? Hm…I've to report this to the Earl."
His eyes scanned the area, seeing them fight. The blue akuma that he sent to fight them was on par with the 4 of them against just itself. It was stronger than the pink akuma.
His eyes landed on Eliza. Her Innocence was working very well – better than before. How did this happen? What was the cause of the Innocence changing?
"A mysterious girl, a mysterious Innocence…what else do you have in store for us…Alyster-boy?"